Canada and England to share women’s rugby’s biggest stage in World Cup final clash

Stephanie Arthur and her sister Lysbeth packed just about every piece of Canada garb they could fit into their suitcases for their trip from Winnipeg to London on Thursday: flags, Maple Leaf stickers, temporary tattoos.

The Arthurs have some of the hottest tickets in town. On Saturday, they’ll be among 82,000 spectators at the sold-out Allianz Stadium in Twickenham to watch England, the world’s top team, take on second-ranked Canada in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final.

It will be the largest crowd ever to watch a women’s rugby game, and the sisters wouldn’t dare miss it.

“I’m very excited,” said Stephanie, 32, who plays forward for Brumbies RFC in Winnipeg. “This is the perfect final. This is amazing.”

The highly anticipated match marks the culmination of the five-week World Cup tournament, which has smashed records for attendance, television ratings and hype.

Around 440,000 tickets were sold during the competition – three times more than the last World Cup in New Zealand – and the television audience for Saturday’s game is expected to top the record 3.3 million viewers who tuned into the BBC last week for England’s semi-final win over France.

It’s a far cry from the first Women’s Rugby World Cup in 1991 when the final was played in front of 3,000 fans in Wales, with no media coverage and no support from the sport’s international governing body.

“It’s so exciting, so exciting for the future. For the women that have built this game, it’s very rewarding,” Canadian flanker Karen Paquin said this week at a press conference.

England will be the clear favourites on Saturday, owing to the team’s 32-game winning streak and its 33-3 win-loss record against Canada in past World Cups (there was a 13-13 tie in 2014).

But the Canadians have been standout performers during the tournament. They haven’t lost yet, and they outclassed defending champions New Zealand in the semi-finals 34-19. Canada’s Sophie de Goede, a goal-kicking forward, is the second-highest scorer in the tournament so far, with 58 points. She’s a finalist for World Rugby’s Women’s Player of the Year.

“We’re here to win,” said Nathan Bombrys, chief executive officer of Rugby Canada.

The hoopla surrounding the tournament isn’t confined to the elite level. Women’s rugby is growing by leaps and bounds, especially among teenage girls who’ve been drawn to the sport’s diversity and acceptance.

“We need every size, we need every shape, we need every talent, whether you can run fast or be powerful. So it takes away that stigma of you have to be a certain type to play the sport. Every type is welcomed,” said Anne MacCorquodale, president of the Barrhaven Scottish Rugby Football Club outside Ottawa, which runs programs for boys and girls of all ages.

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Barrhaven added 21 teenage girls this year, and the under-16 program has 40 girls, the same number as boys. “We’ve grown massively in the last 10 years,” she said of the women’s program.

Other clubs across Canada also have seen a similar surge in interest among girls. Participation in the sport jumped 11 per cent last year and it’s expected to grow 10 per cent this year, according to Rugby Canada. And much of that is being driven by women.

“I see from experience that women are wanting to play a skilled game and one that involves contact,” said Don Forster, the women’s coach at Toronto Scottish Rugby Club. More high schools and universities have introduced the game, he added, and the success of the Canadian national team has generated even more interest.

Canadian women have won silver and bronze at the Olympics in rugby sevens, a shorter version of the game played with seven instead of 15 players. The rugby union team – which has 15 players – hasn’t lost a game this year and has a 21-5-1 record since the last World Cup.

Mr. Bombrys said Canada is unique among nations in keeping many of the same players together from the sevens and rugby union sides. Most countries run separate programs, but the Canadian model has meant a more experienced team in both games.

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Funding remains an issue. While most of the Canadian players compete in semi-pro leagues in Britain and France, the national team’s budget is a fraction of those of major powers such as England or New Zealand. Rugby Canada had to launch a fundraising drive to raise $1-million to get the national team to England this year.

Stephanie Arthur has been playing rugby for 14 years, long enough to know that Canada faces a huge challenge on Saturday. But she remains hopeful. “I still think they can ultimately win,” she said.

At Barkers’ Butts Rugby Football Club in Coventry, England, the feeling was a lot more confident – for England. “I want to say England’s going to have at least 40 points on the board,” said player Abbie Kipping. And Canada? “If I’m being generous, maybe 20.”

England is the cradle of the sport, and here too the game is finding wide acceptance among women. The Rugby Football Union, the national governing body, is in the midst of a four-year plan to more than double female participation to 100,000 players by 2027.

Georja Evans, 20, has been playing rugby at Barkers’ Butts since she was five years old. She was one of only two girls when she started, and they had to play with the boys. “When I was younger, it was really awkward,” she recalled of the snarky comments she used to get for playing rugby. “Whereas now it’s like, ‘Oh, you play rugby. That’s wicked, that’s great.’”

When she’s not managing a local health clinic, Ms. Evans is at the club training, coaching or hanging out with friends. “I would rather be here than anywhere,” she said.

The Butts – an ancient term for a field that’s used for archery training – is one of the largest clubs in Coventry, with an 80-year history, mostly of men’s teams. For a long time, the only opportunity for girls under 12 was playing on a mixed team.

The club began expanding the girls’ program about 10 years ago. It now has more than 100 female players across all age groups, as well as a competitive senior team.

During a weekly practice on Tuesday, head coach Chris Kirby put a group of players through their paces – running passing drills, working on ruck technique and slamming into a tackling pad. Mr. Kirby’s wife and 15-year-old daughter play at the club, where he welcomes everyone, regardless of their ability.

Miki Leung, 35, began playing last year and she’s still learning the finer points of the game. She dropped the ball a couple of times during Tuesday’s practice and messed up some drills. But she earned high praise from Mr. Kirby and the others whenever she made a good play.

Ms. Leung still chuckles at her introduction to rugby. After her first match, she felt sick and run-down. She went to see her doctor, convinced that she was just out of shape. “And the doctor was like, ‘You’re pregnant, you know.’ It was a big surprise,” she recalled.

She stopped playing, had a baby daughter and returned to the team this summer. “The atmosphere here is really good, they’re very supportive,” she said as she laced up her cleats.

Julie (Boo) Whelan started playing when she was 46, at the urging of a friend. “We both turned up, and we’ve never looked back since,” said Ms. Whelan, who is now 52. “I love it. I’m one of the oldest on the team, but I’m also running the fastest.”

Ms. Whelan likes to tease Mr. Kirby about her age. “Chris has got these young’uns, and I say, ‘Chris, I’m going through the menopause.’”

Then she added with a wink: “But honestly, for women who have got menopause, doing this on a Tuesday night, it’s just brilliant. When you’ve had a day of working and you’ve had hot sweats, you come here and you just have a run about.”

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