From the Stade de France over the summer to B.C. Place Stadium today, the versatile Caroline Crossley of Victoria is proving a multi-tasker in all forms of rugby.
The Oak Bay Secondary graduate, a member of the Castaway Wanderers club from Windsor Park, was outstanding in helping lead Canada to the women’s rugby sevens silver medal in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Crossley will follow up by dressing for Canada in XVs in its game this afternoon against France at B.C. Place (3:45 p.m. PT on TSN-2). The game is the opener of the WXV-1 Tournament, which features the top six women’s national teams in the world.
“The team is looking forward to getting WXV-1 started on home soil here in Vancouver,” said Canada head coach Kevin Rouet, in a statement.
“Our journey and preparation for the World Cup [next year in England] starts now and we are looking forward to seeing a strong performance from the team against France. Training camp [in Langford] has been a great experience and the players have been working hard to prepare for the tournament. Everyone is excited to be back on the pitch.”
Crossley and Asia Hogan-Rochester, another sevens Olympic silver medallist for Canada in Paris, will earn their first XVs caps for Canada. It’s been quite a career comeback for Crossley, who decided she needed time away from the game after a lifetime in rugby, before returning to it with such a splash after two years away.
“I needed to take some space for myself. It was a crazy 10 years I had been in the game. I did some other things but I decided I wanted to come back and try rugby again and am so happy and grateful I did,” Crossley told the Times Colonist.
Also named along with Crossley and Hogan-Rochester from the silver-medallist sevens team, for today’s XVs Test against France, are Olivia Apps, Fancy Bermudez and Alysha Corrigan.
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