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World Cup dream driving Exeter's Canadian star Taylor Perry
By Joe Harvey
Canada fly-half Taylor Perry knows a thing or two about heartbreak.
At 24 the Exeter Chiefs playmaker has suffered two ACL injuries and missed two years of her senior career desperately trying to get back to her best.
Sustaining her first major knee injury almost four years ago in her first spell with Exeter, Perry returned to Canada to complete her recovery and did enough to be named in Kévin Rouet’s squad for the delayed Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand.
Such was her return to fitness Perry was named to start in Canada’s tournament opener against Japan in Whangarei before tearing her ACL in the final training session before the fixture.
“When I did my ACL at the last World Cup, I have never felt such a drive to get back to prime shape and play with these girls again,” Perry told RugbyPass.
After another 11 months on the sidelines, the playmaker decided to pursue selection for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Conversations with ex-Canada coach Jack Hanratty made it clear to Perry that there was potential to break into his squad and after finishing her 15s season with Queen’s university, the 24-year-old began staking her claim for a place in Paris.
Making strides in the shortened format of the game, Perry saw herself become a regularly relied upon player for Hanratty. Going to the Olympics seemed likely before another injury put her place in jeopardy and she was named as a travelling reserve.
“It was actually fantastic news because I had dislocated my ankle about eight weeks before we left for Paris,” Perry said.
“It was at the last stop in Madrid, I went up on a lineout and when I came back down, I landed on my ankle wrong. It was pretty disgusting.
“I thought my chances of being part of the Olympics was completely taken.
“Which was tough. I hadn’t been part of the programme for as long as some of the girls, but it was still hard work every day.
“So when I was offered the opportunity to come along, support the girls and potentially pull on the jersey if needed, I was actually really grateful for it.”
Ultimately, Perry took the place of Krissy Scurfield after the flyer sustained a lacerated kidney in the pool stage of the competition.
Contributing to the team’s run to the gold medal final against New Zealand at the Stade de France, thanks to a 21-12 win against Australia in the semi-final, she took part in a landmark campaign for her nation.
“I’ve never seen a group so focused on the end goal of, ‘we’ve worked really hard to be here and we’re going to show the world what we are capable of’,” Perry said.
“Every single night, between every single game, you walk off the field, go into your review and everyone just owned every single part of their role in every way – and looked at the next step.
“[We] won an insane quarter-final against France and had to go on to play Australia, who we had beaten previously that year, so we knew what we had to do to get the job done.
“Then we did that, I was like ‘we’re leaving the Olympics with a medal’, but we weren’t happy just with the silver necessarily. I’ve never seen a group work like that.”
To celebrate bringing a silver medal back to Oakville, Ontario, Perry and her husband, Grayson, went camping at the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve for two weeks.
Losing her sim card in France, it was a fortnight of serene silence and switch-off after such a whirlwind of emotion in recent years.
But after that reflection and reset, Perry’s next challenge presented itself.
Hoping to be selected for a second World Cup, and step out on the pitch this time, it was straight back to the training field.
Perry’s sole appearance against Ireland at WXV 1 was her first XVs cap since September 2021.
Since she last turned out for Rouet’s side, there have been wholesale changes of the nation’s perception on the world stage after a mesmeric 2024.
Rising to second in the World Rugby rankings, winning the Pacific Four Series and beating New Zealand, Canada have become the team to beat in a World Cup year.
“Kévin has been making such amazing strides with us every single time he has an opportunity for us to be together, which is not even a fraction of the time he would like,” Perry said.
“You can see in every single tournament, we’ve made such big strides and when we beat New Zealand in PAC Four last year, that was a huge step for us.
“Now it feels like there is an expectation for us to beat New Zealand, when five years ago that would have been unimaginable because we were losing to them quite significantly.
“To make that step, now we’re knocking on the door of England every time we play them and putting them under pressure. It’s just a matter of time before it happens at this point.”
Now, even seven months away, Canada are favourites to take to the Twickenham turf alongside England in the World Cup final.
With expectations having sky-rocketed, it is apparent that Canada are taking everything in their stride. Something no more clear than when asking the 24-year-old what her team’s intentions are in 2025.
“We all have the same goal of winning the World Cup,” Perry said.
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To continue her own aim of being selected for the tournament, Perry’s attention is firmly fixed on helping Exeter this season.
In a quickfire Premiership Women’s Rugby campaign, the Devon club are currently fourth in the league table and one point ahead of Bristol Bears in fifth.
In her second spell with the team after taking part in their debut top flight campaign almost half a decade ago, the competition is almost unrecognisable.
Four years ago top flight women’s rugby in England looked very different. Due to the global pandemic there were no scrums or crowds.
Helping Chiefs establish themselves as competitors, Perry has watched on as Susie Appleby’s side have become contenders and is enjoying the opportunity to play rugby in a league that has developed in her time away.
“I guess I would call it unfinished business,” Perry said. “Being here in that first year, it was tough in the beginning, and it was a new group of people working together and we were losing games consistently.
“Then somewhere halfway through the season, we made that switch to building our way back up the table. It felt like in that one season we lived so many lives.
“I was only 20 at the time and it was hard to convince my family that what I was doing was big and important.
“I think there were only two or three games of the regular season that my family could watch and now it is really rare if there isn’t a game to watch.
“It (PWR) has grown significantly. Not to mention, with Ilona [Maher] coming over now as well, the presence of the fans at games is growing.”
Trading places with the likes of Liv McGoverne and Alex Tessier in the fly-half jersey, Perry has begun to thrive with consistent game time.
It is something she has not had since that fateful training session beneath the floodlights four years ago and gives her cause for optimism in the biggest 12 months of her career yet.
“Now I am a year and a half back just playing rugby, I’m only just starting to get comfortable in back-to-back games and back being a rugby player,” Perry said.
“My teammates, coaches and myself, know what I am capable of in training and what I can do, but it’s been such a long time since I’ve been able to show anyone else what I’m capable of in games.”
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Kyle Preston has been a revelation for the Crusaders since his hat trick debut in Round One off the bench , against the Hurricanes. Will Jordan, Justin Marshall and O’Connor right in there praise. Noah Hotham, also brilliant half back, will be back soon. A great comp between these two in the years to come.
Go to commentsHaha yes Greg Inglis and Israel Folau were somehow Queenslanders despite growing up in nsw. Anyway I don’t care. It’s league but good reference.
And whilst soo might be more popular rugby has been playing nsw v qld for far longer!
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