The best women’s rugby teams in the world are ready to play in the WXV 1 tournament in Vancouver

Tyson Beukeboom no longer remembers exactly where she was when her friends won Olympic silver at the Paris Games this summer.

All she remembers is what it felt like to see the women’s rugby sevens climb onto the podium.

“I was enthralled,” said the captain of Canada’s 15-year-old women’s team. “I hope the rest of Canada was too.”

As the most capable women’s rugby player in the country, Beukeboom has known many of the sevens players for a long time.

Now Beukeboom is hoping some of the Olympic enthusiasm will remain as the third-ranked Canadians host the world’s best for WXV 1 this weekend.

The tournament will mark the first time the international Women’s 15s has been played at Vancouver’s BC Place, and several teams – including Canada – feature players who have been in action in Paris.

“We see a number of those stars passing by, in more than one team,” said Beukeboom. “So I hope people are still excited about the silver medal and come out to watch, and then hopefully we’ll take it home as well.”

Now in its second year, the WXV is a three-tier tournament with top division teams drawn from the top three players in the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand and the United States) and the Women’s Six Nations Championship (England, France and Ireland).

Different playing styles

Each team plays a unique style, said England’s Zoe Aldcroft.

“We look at Canada, super fit. They can go on and on and on. We look at New Zealand, they are super blazing, magical with how they play. And then you look at France, who are super physical and you” I really have to get up ​​because I had a hardcore arm wrestle with those guys,” she said.

“So there are so many different styles. And that’s the exciting thing about rugby, because every game is completely different.”

Canada kicks off the tournament on Sunday against number 4 France. The day will also see top-ranked England take on No. 8 Americans and No. 2 New Zealand take on seventh-ranked Ireland.

The second weekend of competition – taking place in Langley, BC, on October 5 and 6 – will see the US take on France and Canada against Ireland before England takes on New Zealand.

After winning the tournament last year and topping the world rankings, England enter as favorites to win another WXV title.

“I think we enjoy the pressure when it comes,” Aldcroft said. “Obviously we’ve had two really tough warm-up games, and I think that’s really put us in the best position to attack this tournament. I think going into it, we’re excited more than anything .”

Ireland, meanwhile, is playing in the top level for the first time, after playing in the third division last year.

“WXV 3 gave us a huge opportunity to perform as a team and get our systems up and running with our new coaching staff,” said Ireland captain Edel McMahon. “And since then we’ve only been building on trust.”

This year’s iteration is all about the team’s progress, she added – and reaching the level they want to play at heading into next year’s World Cup in England.

“We want to play against the best in the world,” McMahon said. “We want to be among the best in the world, so we have to play against them. And this is the right competition to prepare us for that.”