Canada names roster for inaugural WXV women's rugby tournament in New Zealand

Canada coach Kevin Rouet has named his roster for the new WXV women's 15s rugby tournament, choosing 21 players from the squad that finished fourth at the World Cup last November.

Sophie de Goede will captain the fourth-ranked Canadians who will face No. 1 England, No. 3 France and No. 6 Wales in the six-team elite tier of the WXV that runs Oct. 20 to Nov. 4 in New Zealand.

The Canadians open Oct. 20 (11 p.m. ET in Canada/4 p.m. local time Oct. 21 in New Zealand) against Wales in Wellington before facing England in Dunedin on Oct. 27 and France in Auckland on Nov. 3 (11 p.m. ET in Canada/4 p.m. local time Nov. 4 in New Zealand).

The 30-woman Canada squad features 28 players involved in Canada's recent 50-24 and 29-12 losses to England in Exeter and London, respectively. The Canadians were reduced to 14 players in the 17th minute of Saturday's 29-12 defeat when flanker Gabrielle Senft was sent off for a high tackle.

The Canadian women had pushed England to the limit before falling 26-19 in the Nov. 5 World Cup semifinal. England then lost 34-31 to host New Zealand in the final while France blanked Canada 36-0 in the bronze-medal game.

"Over the last year since the Rugby World Cup, we've developed good consistency with a strong core group of players," Rouet said in a statement. "There has been a lot of positive growth and development with continued collaboration with our sevens program as well as the Pacific Four Series and the test matches in England.

"Gaining more frequent elite competition experience is very important as we continue to look towards the 2025 Rugby World Cup. We are excited about the opportunity presented to us with WXV and are looking forward to three more great matches against some of the best teams in