England Upset’s Canada In WXV 1 Final

BC Place gets it’s normal amount of events played there and most recently we have seen Rugby 7’s hit the turf albeit to a smaller size crowd, but nonetheless it continues to attract a solid group of loyal fans.

Saturday saw the number two ranked team play host to the reigning WXV 1 Champions from England for the 2024 title that saw Canada’s Alex Tessier put Canada up 12-7 early in the second half. 

As my late Grandmother would say “don’t count England out” and that was indeed the case with England battling back scoring two tries in the final 22 minutes for the win witch is the second edition of WXV 1.  

Canada’s captain Tyson Beukeboom mentioned “The biggest take away from this game is that we can compete with the top team in the world,” 

Tyson continued  “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.” 

Canada kicked to England but at the very first breakdown only to see Canada’s Courtney Holtkamp force 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.  

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

A short four minutes later, the Red Roses replied with their first try of the game managing a successful conversion to take 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 squeezed past the England D-line going the added 20 meters over the try line putting Canada up 12-7 but only after converting her own score.  

Yet another Yellow Card in the 58th minute saw England take advantage of a Canadian knock on inside their own end taking back the lead after only a try and successful conversion making it 14-12.  

The battle continued and with time winding coming to an end down Julia Schell’s kick resulted in a 50-22 for Canada, managing their possession in England’s end.

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.  

Canada’s Head Coach Kevin Rouet mentioned “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.” 

He continued “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.  

Thanks to Rugby for the press release.