Captain Sophie de Goede rejoins Canada rugby team after yearlong injury layoff

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Rugby

Captain Sophie de Goede, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament a twelvemonth ago, volition rejoin the Canada women's rugby squad up of the team's upcoming circuit to South Africa.

The 25-year-old volition articulation 2nd-ranked Canadian women preparing for Rugby World Cup successful England

Neil Davidson · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 17, 2025 3:29 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

A pistillate rugby subordinate holds 1 limb retired to artifact oncoming defender.

The Canadian women's rugby team, ranked 2nd successful the satellite and looking to crook heads astatine this summer's World Cup, conscionable got better.

Rugby Canada announced Tuesday that skipper Sophie de Goede, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament a twelvemonth ago, volition rejoin the squad up of the team's upcoming circuit to South Africa.

"I consciousness good," said the 25-year-old backrower from Victoria, who contempt the wounded was named to World Rugby's Women's 15s Dream Team of 2024, on with chap Canadians Alex Tessier and Laetitia Royer. "I'm truly excited conscionable to get backmost with the radical and excited to get backmost connected field, but besides conscionable excited to beryllium successful the (team) situation again and walk much clip with people.

"Obviously with our squad being truthful dispersed retired astir of the time, I haven't got to spot the girls successful a while."

De Goede's instrumentality is timely with the World Cup kicking disconnected Aug. 22 successful England.

Canada manager Kevin Rouet has invited de Goede and 37 different players to a grooming campy that runs Friday done June 27 successful Perth, Ont. Thirty-two volition past beryllium chosen for the travel to South Africa and games against the 12th-ranked Springbok women connected July 5 astatine Loftus Versfeld Stadium successful Pretoria and July 12 astatine Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium successful Gqeberha.

Missed retired connected Paris

De Goede was injured June 21, 2024, successful a non-contact scrimmage against the United States connected the past time of a Canada sevens campy successful Chula Vista, Calif. — astir a twelvemonth to the time she returns.

"It has been a truly agelong long, pugnacious year." said de Goede, who missed retired connected the Paris Olympics sevens contention that saw Canada triumph silver. "I deliberation I'll beryllium a batch stronger for it, mentally and physically, coming retired the different side."

She is besides grateful for the assistance connected the roadworthy to recovery.

"Honestly it's taken a colony to get maine to this point," she said. "So I consciousness truly fortunate to person the radical astir maine that person pushed maine erstwhile I needed pushing and pulled maine backmost erstwhile I needed immoderate reins."

Madison Grant, Paige Farries and Pamphinette Buisa besides instrumentality from injury, portion Carissa Norsten, the 2024 HSBC SVNS Women's Rookie of the Year and a subordinate of Canada's silver-medal squad astatine the Paris Olympics, earns her archetypal call-up to the elder 15s.

The grooming campy roster includes 33 members of the squad that came 2nd astatine the Pacific Four Series successful May aft wins implicit the ninth-ranked U.S. (26-14) and No. 6 Australia (45-7) and a 27-27 necktie with No. 3 New Zealand.

The Canadians, who won the Pacific Four Series past twelvemonth with their first-ever triumph implicit New Zealand, finished runner-up to the Black Ferns this twelvemonth connected points differential.

"We are looking guardant to reconvening arsenic a radical aft a abbreviated interruption pursuing the Pacific Four Series," Rouet said successful a statement. "This grooming campy and the matches against South Africa are important components successful our on- and off-field mentation for the Rugby World Cup.

"We volition proceed to refine our gameplay arsenic we walk immoderate invaluable grooming hours together."

Canada volition look No. 7 Scotland, No. 10 Wales and No. 15 Fiji successful Group B play astatine the World Cup.

After the South Africa tour, Canada plays the U.S. connected Aug. 1 successful Ottawa and No. 5 Ireland connected Aug. 9 successful Dublin. The Canadian women unfastened the World Cup against Fiji connected Aug. 23 successful York.

The Canadian women person finished 4th 4 times astatine the World Cup, astir precocious successful 2022. Canada was runner-up to England successful 2014.

Canada is 12-5-1 since the past World Cup. Four of the losses were to top-ranked England, with the different to New Zealand.