It’s surreal to be here at Rugby World Cup 2025 but to be honest these last 12 months have been surreal. Life-changing, even. Being on the journey to winning a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and then to be here for this major tournament is an honour, but it’s also a challenge physically and mentally to be switched on for a whole year.
We took time to celebrate our silver medal and to allow it all to sink in, because we knew we had accomplished something a lot of people said we wouldn’t accomplish in Paris. You also have to process the emotions of winning silver because it’s bittersweet in the sense that you’re second in the world and that’s massive, and you’ve made history for Canadian rugby, but at the same time you also know you’ve fallen just seven points short of gold.
So we soaked all of that in but with a ‘What’s next?’ mentality, and our focus very quickly shifted to us coming here and winning this Rugby World Cup.
One thing I’m getting better at as I get older is figuring out the balance between rugby and life. Earlier on in my career it was just rugby, rugby, rugby, and obviously that’s put me in a good position. But there’s a balance to be struck between trying to enjoy the off-field stuff a little bit more, and just being able to connect with other people and fully shutting off when it’s not rugby and not feeling guilty for doing that.
For me, spending as much time as possible at home this last year was important. We got some good chunks off so I was able to be at home with family and friends and just… breathe.
I come from a place called Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, which is the smallest province in Canada. It’s surrounded by beautiful beaches, so when I’m home I’m hanging out on the beach, I’m eating lobster rolls, I’m hanging out with my niece, I’m hanging out with my friends and I’m just chilling. That’s how I relax and unwind from rugby.
But as much as I like my down time, I also love the chance to get onto the rugby pitch and switch back on. Unlike for our sevens campaign at the Olympics, there’s been a lot more chat about Canada at this World Cup and it’s been awesome to have so much media and eyes on us.
We came fourth at the last World Cup but since then we’ve only grown, so absolutely there’s pressure on us to perform now, but we’ve worked so hard for that pressure so we aren’t going to shy away from it.
We’re coming into this World Cup with a sense of confidence and with the knowledge that every week there’s a job to be done. You can get ahead of yourself by looking at the media and who they’re picking as their top contenders, but our pressure comes from within. We have goals that we need to check off every week in order to continue growing as a group. We have a squad of 32 that, on any given day, any person can be on that field and help us win a game. We take pride in that.
Sure, there’s pressure but there’s as much pressure really as you want to put on yourself. We have a group with a lot of confidence and we’re super excited for the challenge.
We know there’s much more at stake than just rugby bragging rights. In Canada alone, we’ve already seen changes since the last time Canada was on the podium at a World Cup, with two Olympic medals. It just keeps growing and that goes to show that every time Canada has a good performance at a major tournament, the buzz around the sport in the country has just grown.
You can see it on our team right now. The people who are going to their fourth World Cup have paved the way, they are the ones who inspired us to pick up a rugby ball. Now they are our team-mates. If we can do that to the younger generation and have them as part of the group at the next World Cup, or the one after that, it would be massive for growing the game in Canada, and hopefully helping this team collect more silverware.
