Canada building confidence with six-game winning streak

Canada’s WXV 1 victory over France this weekend marked their sixth win in a row, dating back to their final WXV match last year against France.

In the time since then, they have toppled World Champions New Zealand to claim the Pacific Four Series title after wins against the USA (50-7) and Australia (33-14).

This year’s WXV 1 competition has seen them take two victories from two matches, opening their account with a 46-24 victory over France before they saw off Ireland 21-8 in Langley.

Next up they’ll face England in a battle between the top two sides in the world in the final match of WXV 1 at BC Place on 12 September.

Head coach Kevin Rouet spoke of the momentum their current run of form is providing after their most recent victory.

"I think it's important, the next game is England, number one in the world, so we hope if we keep our winning streak that would be amazing,” he said. “We're at the place we want to be, we wanted to have two wins after this game to just be able to win WXV and that's great because also we used a lot of players today, we did a lot of rotations compared to the last game so that was good for us to see that we have a wider squad who is able to give a good performance on the field.

“We didn't look to be in danger for 80 minutes, that's the positive of the game. That was not our A game, but overall we didn't seem to be in danger and we were in control of the game so that's the postive. Our defence compared to last week was improving also. Our offensive game was not the best, their defensive game was way better for sure."

Captain Tyson Beukeboom went on to explain how increased international competition throughout the likes of the Pacific Four Series and WXV has impacted Canada.

She said: "I think for the team the biggest thing is confidence. We beat New Zealand, we've beaten France, we're beating those top teams and we're feeling very confident in our ability to play, our ability to compete. The nerves that would typically seep into our team aren't there anymore and I think we're actually believing that we're good enough to beat those teams instead of just hoping that we can beat them. Belief and confidence are the big things driving us right now.”

With Ireland moving up to WXV 1 following their third-place finish at the Six Nations earlier in the year, this weekend’s match was the first time in eight years that the two sides had met.

Reflecting on the challenge Ireland brought with them, the Canada captain said: "Last time I played them was in 2016, they're definitely a much better team, a totally different team from the last time I played them from the last time I played them. They brought physicality, they definitely challenged us at the breakdown and they were very disciplined and well-connected. They did a great job of staying connected.”

Next week’s match between Canada and England will see the two teams battle for the trophy, both going into the final round of WXV 1 unbeaten but with one point separating them in the table.

Beukeboom previewed the match saying: “They're going to be physical, they're going to run it hard, we're going to have to front up on defence. We're going to have to get in their faces and be willing to put our bodies in front of theirs and try and capitalise on those opportunities when we get them and pressure them as much as possible, force them to make errors and limit our errors when it is our turn with the ball.”

The match against Ireland additionally marked the occasion of Beukeboom’s 70th cap for Canada. In May she became the most-capped Canadian women’s player of all time during the Pacific Four Series, but her most recent milestone was made all the better for being in front of a home crowd.

“I've been lucky enough to have a bunch of different milestones, especially recently, and it's really cool every time. It doesn't sound that cool when I say it, but for me it's really awesome,” she said.

“The coolest thing is having the girls around me and getting to spend the day with them on the field and putting my body on the line for my team. Then having our friends and family here to watch is really exciting and it's awesome that we can do that in Canada.”

Tickets for the final weekend of WXV 1 are available to buy here.