Is Canada a team of destiny at Women’s Rugby World Cup?

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Canada’s rampage into the semifinals of the ongoing Rugby World Cup in England finally seems to be drawing notice at home.

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It was quite the thing to hear TSN CFL commentators Rod Nielson and Glen Suitor during Friday’s B.C. Lions game not only reading the assigned preview of Saturday morning’s Canada vs. Australia quarterfinal telecast, but actively discussing how powerful the Canadian women are.

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If you are a rugby fan, you know that Canada’s forward pack is the best in the world. For a Canadian football commentator to know this tells you that this knowledge is breaking through. These women are the real deal. They are a squad to pay attention to, a team of the moment for all Canadians to get behind.

They are looking more and more like a team of destiny, one primed to win over all our hearts. In 2014, the Canadian women made it to the final of the World Cup, but this year they are primed and ready to be more than also-rans.

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The Canadian women delivered Sunday morning, thrashing the hapless Aussies 46-5 on Saturday in Bristol, England. That sets up an epic showdown next Friday vs. New Zealand. Yes that game will also be on TSN. TSN deserves some kudos here for covering every game of the tournament and also taking the women’s games so seriously they’ve assigned proper home-team coverage from commentators Brian Spanton and Andrea Burk, plus Magali Harvey in studio.

If you hear Canada’s the slight favourite in next Friday’s showdown vs. New Zealand, you’ve heard right. Canada beat the Black Ferns last year, the biggest win in Canadian women’s history, and the two teams drew their rematch last May.

It’s not just that the Canadians, under coach Kevin Rouet, have the biggest, strongest group of forwards in the world. It’s that they have a powerful and dynamic back line too.

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And there’s depth on the bench too. Look at the impact sevens captain Olivia Apps has been making coming off the bench to play scrum half: she injects pace and smart decision making into games when energy levels are starting to sap.

There’s just no quit in this squad, from perennial world player of the year candidate Sophie De Goede, to ball-carrying dynamo Caroline Crossley, to the always-spot-on lineout throws of Gillian Boag, to highly precise fly half Taylor Perry directing the backline, to the perfect defending of Alex Tessier and the thrilling attacking runs of Florence Symonds.

It’s all coming down to next Friday — and then, hopefully, it will all come down a week later in the final.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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