Olympic rugby sevens silver-medallist Caroline Crossley of Victoria, who will get her first start for Canada in XVs today against Ireland in Langley, is an example of the multi-tasking commitment and dedication it requires for Canadian female players to reach this level. That’s not to mention the obvious time-management skills needed.
The Oak Bay Secondary graduate from the Castaway Wanderers club, who earned her first XVs cap off the bench at B.C. Place in last weekend’s 46-24 win over France in the WXV-1 tournament, is a McGill law student. Crossley returned to win silver with Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics following two years away from the sport “to take some space for myself.”
But hers is not a unique story in Canadian women’s rugby.
“[Crossley] is not the exception. All of our players have careers on the side. She loved rugby so much that she wanted to come back,” said Canadian XVs head coach Kevin Rouet.
“There are a lot of other great examples [in Canadian rugby]. None of our girls are pro players. I would describe it as semi-pro. Our players all need jobs on the side. Rugby Canada is doing its best but the money doesn’t exist. Every top-10 nation, except Canada and the U.S., have contracts with their national [governing organization].”
Despite these limitations, not only did Canada win the 2024 Olympic silver medal in sevens at Paris, it has risen to No. 2 in the world in XVs. But it has taken a sort of steely sacrifice to get there.
“I started out in the pay-to-play model,” said Canadian captain Tyson Beukeboom, out of Cowichan FC.
“We are lightyears away from that now. But you still have to put careers and lives on hold. It shows how committed we are to the national team. We don’t make any money being here. If we were pros, imagine how good we could be. We’d be flying higher, for sure. The sky is the limit for us. We play exciting rugby. Our growing confidence has been the key.”
Five players from the Olympic silver-medallist sevens team are on the Canadian roster for the WXV-1 tournament and three will start against Ireland today at Willoughby Stadium in Langley — Crossley, Fancy Bermudez out of Westshore RFC and Alysha Corrigan.
The movement between the national sevens and XVs teams is seamless, said Rouet.
“It’s not about having to integrate the sevens players into the XVs team. It’s about all of the [sevens and XVs] players having trained together the last few years,” said the Canada XVs bench boss.
“This is not new for us. It’s just now everybody is available fully [for XVs following the Paris Olympics].”
