Canada’s Senior Women’s 15s marked their final warmup test match on home soil before the Rugby World Cup with a 31-3 win over Wales at the Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, NS on Saturday.
Tries from Paige Farries (2), Fabiola Forteza, Maddy Grant, and Justine Pelletier, and a string of successful conversions from Brianna Miller and captain Sophie de Goede, were enough to seal the victory.
PHOTO: Rugby Canada
Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot's Ngalula Fuamba (right), is a second row player on the team, and Pointe-Claire's very own, Brianna Miller (left), is a scrum half and fullback. Miller, Alexandra Tessier and Laetitia Royer are also products of the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Rugby Football Club.
“I think the girls reacted well,” said Canada’s Senior Women’s 15s Head Coach Kevin Rouet following the match. “I think the first ten minutes could have been worse. It was a bad ten minutes, but they came back into the game slowly and were patient, built momentum, and it was great to see that.”
PHOTO: Facebook, Rugby Canada
In starting the match, Elissa Alarie earned her 40th cap for the national 15s team at full-back, while Alexandra Tessier received her 35th at center, and Miller scored her 30th at scrum half. Having entered the field as second-half substitutes, Laura Russell got her 53rd cap - pulling level with her sister, Kelly, as the third most-capped Canadian woman of all time - while Pelletier earned her 10th.
Olivia DeMerchant and Emma Taylor, who call Halifax home, also played in the fixture, with the former being named in the starting lineup and the latter coming on from the bench in the second half.
Saturday’s match began with early pressure from No. 9-ranked Wales, which resulted in a penalty conversion from fly-half Elinor Snowsill to give them the lead within nine minutes.
No. 4-ranked Canada soon found a foothold in the game, though, led by their dominant pack. The game’s first try was scored when the hosts opted for a scrum on the five-meter line following a penalty, and the ball was swung out to Farries, who went over. Miller hit the conversion to make it 7-3.
Momentum with the Canadians, and they made it count when Forteza crossed the line for their second try in 23 minutes as they tightened their grip on the first-half proceedings. A further try saw Grant receive the ball in space on the right wing and outpace the Welsh defense to touch down as Canada went into the break leading 17-3.
PHOTO: Rugby Canada
In the second half, the home side continued to delight a passionate Nova Scotia crowd as Farries scored her second try of the evening within three minutes of the restart. Miller was successful with the conversion to extend the score to 24-3.
Fresh from entering the pitch as a substitute, Pelletier marked her 10th appearance in a Canada jersey by scoring her team’s fifth try in the 66th minute. The scrum-half received the ball no more than a few yards out and spun a Welsh defender to successfully go over before de Goede split the posts with the resulting conversion.
That represented the match’s final points scored as Canada completed a convincing victory over their opponents. Next up is the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
“It was awesome,” said Emma Taylor after playing a senior international test match within a couple of hours of her hometown of Scotsburn, NS. “We started a little slow, but the crowd was amazing. When I ran onto the field, I could just hear people getting to their feet so it was really exciting for me personally. I think the girls were floored by the amount of support here. It was an awesome win, a really good team win.”
“It was great to be in front of a home crowd,” commented Olivia DeMerchant following the game. “It’s always really good to have Canadian rugby fans pumping us up, so I love it.”
SOURCE: Rugby Canada
