Written By: Neil Davidson
Source: The Courier Press
The Canadian women’s rugby sevens team knows a familiar foe awaits when the 2025 HSBC SVNS season kicks off Saturday in Dubai.
The Canadian women’s rugby sevens team knows a familiar foe awaits when the 2025 HSBC SVNS season kicks off Saturday in Dubai.
After games against Japan and Brazil, Blenheim’s Breanne Nicholas and Canada wrap up pool play against New Zealand at the Emirates Dubai 7s. It’s the first meeting between the two since the Blacks Ferns Sevens’ 19-12 victory July 30 in the gold-medal game at the Paris Olympics.
“They have been for the last decade the measuring stick of women’s sevens,” Canada coach Jocelyn Barrieau said of New Zealand. “Everybody’s aiming for them. We certainly are.”
Nicholas, 30, has played 174 matches in her sevens series career. She’s scored 24 tries and has 268 points.
The Dubai event is the first in charge for Barrieau, who took over when Jack Hanratty stepped down after the Olympics to coach the University of Ottawa women’s team.
She calls it her dream job.
“But such a big dream that I never even thought I’d have it,” she said. “It’s been great.”
The Montreal native started as an assistant coach in May 2023, joining Rugby Canada after six years as coach of the Concordia University women’s team and four years at the helm of the Dawson College women’s team.
Canada is scheduled to play Saturday against Japan at 12 a.m. ET, Brazil at 2:15 a.m. and New Zealand at 7:07 a.m. The playoffs are Sunday.
Dubai is the first of seven tournaments for the 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams on the HSBC SVNS circuit. After Dubai, the series goes to Cape Town, South Africa, Perth, Australia, Vancouver (Feb. 21-23), Hong Kong and Singapore before wrapping up May 3-4 in Carson, Calif.
The Singapore event will crown the SVNS season winners before the top eight men’s and women’s sides take part in the winner-takes-all world championship at California’s Dignity Health Sports Park.
The Canadian women finished fifth in the standings last season before losing 26-14 to New Zealand in June in Madrid in the third-place game. Australia won the women’s title, defeating France 26-7.
Barrieau’s Dubai roster includes four players from the Paris Olympic squad: Piper Logan, Carissa Norsten, Asia Hogan-Rochester and Shalaya Valenzuela. Shoshanah Seumanutafa, Pamphinette Buisa and Hogan-Rochester return from action with the Canadian 15s team.
Twelve of the 14 players chosen took part recently in the Premier Rugby Sevens (PR7s) All-Star Tournament in Portland, Ore., where Canada defeated the PR7s All-Stars 27-0 and the U.S. 26-5.
Both Canadian sevens squads have decentralized, allowing players to choose their own home base. Rugby Canada also continues to share the talent between sevens and 15s sides.
The organization’s motto is “One squad,” with a goal of giving “the best players . . . the best opportunities to compete at the highest levels in both sevens and 15s,” said Barrieau.
Barrieau and men’s sevens coach Sean White say the move to decentralize — both teams were previously based in Langford, B.C. — was not a financial move, but one designed to allow players to live their own lives when not playing.
“Happier people make happier rugby players,” said Barrieau.
“There wasn’t a great interest of people coming back into the centralized environment after the (Paris) games,” she added.
The other members of the Paris silver-medal squad are still with the program, with some playing 15s with club sides in England.
Barrieau expects to rotate players throughout the season, given 2025 is the first year of the new quadrennial.
After Dubai, the Canadian women head to South Africa for the Dec. 7-8 Cape Town event.
With files from the Chatham Daily News
