Any World Cup in any sport in which teams face each other in the first phase of the knockout stage, after having just met in the last game of the group stage, is in dire need of a format change.
sa国际传媒, captained by Sophie De Goede of Victoria, will meet the U.S. in the quarter-finals of the women’s rugby World Cup today (8:30 p.m. PT on TSN) at Waitakere Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Undefeated sa国际传媒 beat the U.S. 29-14 last weekend to finish Pool B at 3-0 to qualify for the quarter-finals as the No. 2 seed. As the format would have it, that means another game today in the quarters against the No. 7 seed Americans (1-2).
Whoever the opponent is matters little to De Goede. The Oak Bay High grad wants sa国际传媒’s strong play from the group stage to carry over the playoff round.
“We are pleased with the performance and we want to take momentum into the knock-out stages now,” De Goede said.
De Goede will again start at No. 8 and also handle the convert- and penalty-kicking duties. Former University of Victoria Vikes star Paige Farries, who has wreaked havoc among the opposition with her quick-strike capabilities, will start on the wing. Another former UVic Vikes player, Sara Kaljuvee who brings speed from the Olympics and Commonwealth and Pan Am Games in sevens rugby, will start at outside-centre. Veteran Karen Paquin, a 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist with the Langford-based Canadian sevens team, will start at flanker. Elissa Alarie from Westshore RFC, silver medallist at the 2014 World Cup and sevens player last year in the Tokyo Olympics, is the starter at full-back. The other starters are Emily Tuttosi of Souris, Man., who leads the World Cup with six tries and 30 points, Daleaka Menin and Olivia Demerchant in the front row, Courtney Holtkamp, McKinley Hunt and Fabiola Forteza in the second row, Justine Pelletier, Alex Tessier, Alysha Corrigan and Maddy Grant.
The World Cup team got a shout-out from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Twitter: “There’s no better feeling than seeing Canadian athletes competing, and winning, on the world stage. And your team has been delivering big wins.”
In the other quarter-finals, group stage top-seed New Zealand is playing eighth-seed Wales, third-seed England is pitted against sixth-seed Australia while France is playing Italy.
in the four-five match-up.
