Canada's Women's Rugby Team Loses Nail-Biter Match to England in WXV 1 Finale

October 12, 2024 (Vancouver, BC) – The two best women’s rugby teams in the world went head-to-head Saturday night in Vancouver with Canada, ranked second in the world, taking on reigning WXV 1 champions England for the 2024 title.  

After Canada’s Alex Tessier put Canada up 12-7 early in the second half in front of a loud and passionate crowd at BC Place, England battled back, scoring two tries in the final 22 minutes to seal the victory and win the second edition of WXV 1.  

“The biggest take away from this game is that we can compete with the top team in the world,” said Canada’s captain Tyson Beukeboom. “I think we really challenged them. I think there were moments where they were very worried. We had more opportunities than they did and that is a testament to the grind that this team puts in and how hard we work.” 

The game began with Canada kicking to England but at the very first breakdown, Canada’s Courtney Holtkamp forced England into taking a penalty, giving the home side immediate possession inside England’s 22-metre line. After several phases around the English try line, scrum half Justine Pelletier found a hole in the defensive line to put Canada up 5-0 just five minutes into the match.  

“When you play a team like England it will come down to whoever wants to put their body on the line,” added Beukeboom, speaking about her team’s defensive effort. “I think our team did that really well.” 

However, just four minutes later, the Red Roses answered with their first try of the game and with a successful conversion took a 7-5 lead. Canada was under pressure following the England try, but a strong defensive stand kept the deficit at only two points.  

With timing winding down in the first half, the Canadians had two glorious chances to retake the lead, but a knock on and a ball held up in the in-goal sent the two sides to the locker room with a 7-5 scoreline in favour of England.  

Canada immediately was on the front foot early in the second half after England’s Ellie Kildunne was sent off the field with a yellow card, with Canada seizing the moment. With the player advantage, Canada spread the ball out early and often amongst their backline, steadily gaining metres before Tessier slipped through the England defensive line and sprinted 20 meters across the try line to give Canada the lead 12-7, after converting her own score.  

Despite another yellow card at the 58th minute, England took advantage of a Canadian knock on deep inside their own end and took back the lead after a try and successful conversion, 14-12.  

The back-and-forth battle continued between the two sides and with time winding down in the match, a well-placed kick from Julia Schell resulted in a 50-22 for Canada, giving them possession deep in England’s territory. But a strong defensive stand from England kept the score in their favour at 14-12, with the Red Roses adding one last try before the last whistle to claim the WXV 1 title and make the final score 21-12.  
“The team chatted about it at the end that we don’t think it was our best game but the beauty of that is that even though we weren’t playing our best we were still so close,” said Canada’s Head Coach Kevin Rouet. “We have a lot to work on and we know with more time together it can be easily fixed.” 

More information on WXV, including the results, can be found on the official website at wxvrugby.com.