Win over Australia propels Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team to third in the world rankings
Rugby 15s Senior Women
The Canadian victory moves them above France into third place in the world rankings and secured Canada’s spot in WXV 1 later this year, which is being hosted on home soil in Vancouver.
May 11, 2024 (Sydney, Australia) - Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team took a 33-14 win over the Australia Wallaroos in their second match of the 2024 Pacific Four Series on Saturday in Sydney, with a strong showing from Canada’s front row and two-try performances for Sara Cline and McKinley Hunt.
The Canadian victory moved them above France into third place in the world rankings and secured Canada’s spot in WXV 1 later this year, which is being hosted on home soil in Vancouver.
Cline opened the scoring for Canada off a maul with her first try of her international career, which was converted by Sophie de Goede. Canada scored a second try in similar fashion to go up 12-0, this time from Hunt.
The Wallaroos responded in the 13th minute, but their try was waived off due to a knock on. They successfully got on the board in the 20th minute however, cutting Canada’s lead to 12-7.
Canada scored once more in the first half, with Cline striking for a second time off a rolling maul, once again converted by de Goede to give Canada a 19-7 lead after 40 minutes of play.
With an exceptional performance by Canada’s forward pack, Hunt scored her second try in the opening minutes of the second half, with another conversion from de Goede.
“If you give our forwards space around the breakdown, they are going to take it,” said Head Coach Kevin Rouet. “I am very proud of our maul and scrumming ability in Canada. It is important for us to showcase that against any of our opponents. I am very happy with how our whole team played today.”
Australia seemed to gain some momentum in the 47th minute, with a penalty try awarded to the Wallaroos and a yellow card to Canada’s Madison Grant. Canada continued to defend and extend their lead despite being down a player, with DaLeaka Menin charging between the posts to add five for Canada, de Goede’s fourth conversion of the game gave Canada a 33-14 lead.
Julia Schell and de Goede both had prime scoring chances in the final minutes, but Australia held them up prior to the final whistle.
“Our backs played well today too,” commented de Goede. “They set up the forwards in areas of the pitch to go ahead and score. It was a full team effort today.”
Canadian rugby fans can watch an encore broadcast of the match against Australia on TSN1 at 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET.
Canada’s final Pacific Four Series match will be against New Zealand on Saturday May 18 at 9:35pm PT/Sunday May 19 at 12:35am ET (4:35pm local time). The match will be streamed live on TSN+ with encore broadcasts on TSN2 at 5:00am PT/8:00am ET and TSN1 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET.