Competing in front of the biggest crowd in the show’s history, the 15-year-old Canadian women’s rugby team spooked the reigning World Cup champions, but New Zealand’s Black Ferns won 52-21 in the match. Pacific Four Series on Saturday in Ottawa.
Canada held the lead in round seven midway through the second half, but powerhouse New Zealand took the lead ahead of a record 10,092 fans at TD Place.
The Canadians received their efforts from Fabiola Forteza, Olivia DeMerchant and captain Sophie de Goede, who added three converts. New Zealand is currently standing alone with a 2-0 scoreline in the four-nation round-robin series, while world-fourth-placed Canada is down 1-1 with Australia. The United States is at the bottom of the table with a score of 0-2.
It didn’t take long for New Zealand to strike on a hot summer night in the nation’s capital. Katelyn Vahaakolo exploded with a long pass to the line and Luka Connor completed the shot just over a minute into the game.
Fabiola Forteza responded almost immediately to Canada. She crossed the line but was blocked by the New Zealand defenders and couldn’t touch the ball.
New Zealand slowly but steadily won their next attempt through Ruahei Demant after 14 minutes. Amy Du Plessis then chipped near midfield on her way to another Black Ferns effort. performed by Mererangi Paul four minutes later. Renee Holmes converted all three of New Zealand’s attempts to take a 21-0 lead.
The Canadians held out for the next dozen minutes and slowly advanced at the New Zealand end. When Black Ferns were asked to take a penalty 10 yards from their fixed line, Canada captain Sophie de Goede immediately snatched the ball and darted forward to take it while making a big shot at the line. lime.
The home side scored again within three minutes thanks to a number of favorable passes to Fabiola Forteza. De Goede added his second conversion to put Canada back in the seventh round with a 21-14 scoreline just before half-time.
Four minutes into the second half, New Zealand’s Sylvia Brunt scored a late goal in a two-on-one situation. However, the Canadian answered back in the 53rd minute, inching down to try Olivia DeMerchant. De Goede made the difficult transition to get Canada back within seven hours.
New Zealand established itself after the reboot, moving it down the line for Paul to try. Black Ferns took control from there, adding the efforts of Holmes, Du Plessis and Kelsey Teneti.
In a previous match, Australia had defeated the United States by a score of 58–17. Australia improved its Pacific Four Series record to 1-1, while the Americans remained undefeated at 0-2. Former Canadian international Julianne Zussman refereed the match in her hometown.
On April 1 in Madrid, Canada defeated the US 50-17 in the opening match of the Pacific Four Series. With the win, the Canadians took a big step towards securing a spot in World Rugby’s WXV tournament — a new annual global women’s rugby event for 15-year-olds similar to the World Cup. world champion in other sports.
The top three teams at the conclusion of the Pacific Four Series qualifiers qualify for the top WXV tier, while the bottom three will compete in Tier 2. The Pacific Four Series finals will take place on Friday, the 14th. June at TD Place . Canada will face Australia, while New Zealand will face the US
New Zealand will host the first ever WXV competition for the world’s top six teams starting on October 21. England, France and Wales have qualified.
Canada’s under-20 women’s team was also competing to head three at TD Place against USA Canada took a 17-14 lead after halftime, but the Americans took the lead in the second half to win. 40-24.
Carissa Norsten scored twice for Canada, while Victoria Stanley and Tia Jordo each scored one. Gerry Atkins and Lauren Maye each added a converter.
It was an important match for some of Canada’s senior women.
DeMerchant won the 55th time limit, overtaking Maria Gallo in the all-time third place among Canadian women. Teammate Daleaka Menin drew Julia Sugawara in seventh place with 46 caps.
Florence Symonds made her international debut at the age of 15 as a winger. Canadian seven-player Olivia Apps also got her first appearance off the bench, along with Claire Gallagher, another University of Ottawa Gee-Gees production, who received a huge cheer from the home audience. when she walked in at the 51st minute.
