CANADA DEFEATS IRELAND IN LANGLEY TO SECURE SECOND WIN OF WXV 1
Rugby 15s Senior Women
On the heels of their victory against France to begin WXV 1, Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team defeated Ireland 21-8 in their second match of the tournament, at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre.
October 5, 2024 (Langley, BC) – On the heels of their victory against France to begin WXV 1, Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team defeated Ireland 21-8 in their second match of the tournament, at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre.
The Canadian victory sets up a potential WXV 1 title game next weekend between the hosts and world number one ranked England, depending on the Red Roses’ result on Sunday October 6 against the New Zealand Black Ferns. Regardless, the WXV 1 finale on October 12 will see two of the top women’s rugby teams in the world, Canada and England, clash for the first time since September 2023.
“Next game is against England, the best team in the world,” said Head Coach Kevin Rouet. “We are in the place we want to be after two games with two wins, to be able to win WXV next week. We made some rotations to the lineup and used a lot of players today, so it is exciting to see good performances from players across our whole squad.”
Canada and Ireland went scoreless through the first 20 minutes of play, with both teams making strong defensive stands to keep the other off the scoreboard. Canada’s Alex Tessier came close to opening the scoring in the 19th minute, but was held up in the tackle on the Irish goal line.
In the 25th minute, a yellow card was given to Ireland for an intentional knock on at their own five metre line. On the ensuing lineout, a Canadian maul eventually led to a penalty try, as well as a second yellow card to Ireland, with the hosts going up 7-0.
Seven minutes later, Canada’s Alex Ellis was sent off with a yellow card, for repeated infringements around the breakdown. On the mark of the penalty, Ireland kicked a penalty to put up their first points, narrowing Canada’s lead to 7-3.
Coming onto the field to cover the front row for Ellis was Sooke, BC’s Rori Wood, making her international debut for Canada.
“I was just so excited to get out on the field and do my job, I had to flip a switch pretty quickly but I had the support from everyone around me,” said Wood.
Canada’s offense finally broke through in the 34th minute, with Claire Gallagher dashing over the line to score in the corner and on the following kickoff, the hosts forced a turnover and put flanker Julia Omokhuale into space to score her second international try. Tessier slotted both conversions, giving Canada a 21-3 lead at halftime.
Ireland scored the lone try of the second half early on to pull back to within 13 points of Canada, but that would be as close as the game would get. Canada’s Gallagher was named the Mastercard Player of the Match as the Canadians secured their second victory of WXV 1.
“Ireland brought physicality, challenged us at the breakdown and they were very disciplined and well connected,” said Canadian Captain Tyson Beukeboom.
Canada plays world number one ranked England for their final match of WXV 1 on Saturday October 12 at 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. ET at BC Place in Vancouver. The game will be broadcast on TSN1, TSN5 and TSN+. Tickets are available for purchase here.
More information on WXV, including the full schedule and results, can be found on the official website at wxvrugby.com.
Media accreditation applications for the remaining WXV 1 matches on October 11 and 12 at BC Place are currently being accepted HERE. Questions regarding media accreditation can be directed to media@rugby.ca