Silver medal in hand, Canadian women's rugby team on a smoother road to L.A. in 2028

PARIS — With an Olympic silver medal in hand and a smoother coaching transition, a young Canadian women's rugby sevens team has Los Angeles 2028 in its sights.

Of the 14 players who had silver medals looped around their necks at Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday after a hard-fought loss to powerhouse New Zealand, eight were under the age of 24.

"Our average age was around 23 which is young and really exciting, because I think we can continue to grow and push for that 2028 group to go for gold," said 21-year-old Chloe Daniels of Sutton, Ont., on Wednesday at Canada Olympic House.

Rugby Canada announced in May that assistant coach Jocelyn Barrieau will take over as head coach of the sevens side post-Paris for Jack Hanratty, who is taking a coaching job with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Montreal's Barrieau, whose head-coaching contract starts Sept. 1, was hired as an assistant in 2023. She would be the first woman to coach a Canadian women's rugby sevens side at the Olympic Games should it qualify for L.A.

But Barrieau is quick to credit Hanratty for righting the ship for Paris. The Irishman was the fourth person in a year to be appointed coach back in 2021 after Canada placed ninth in Tokyo.

Head coach and high-performance director John Tait resigned weeks out from Tokyo's Summer Games after current and former players filed a complaint against him. Rugby Canada's independent review determined his conduct didn't run afoul of its harassment and bullying policy at the time.

National development team coach Jamie Cudmore was fired during Tokyo's Games for social media posts ridiculing the team's result there.

The team overcame that tension, the coaching carousel, multiple player retirements and a three-year window to rebuild instead of four to land on the podium in Paris.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to paint the picture of what head coach Hanratty put in place and really started by himself alone, filming training with an iPad in hand, building a staff and building relationships with players and trying to help that kind of trauma that the group had gone through," Barrieau said.

"I'm definitely looking forward to the challenge and I'm terrified at moments, but like all good things, I'll find a balance at some point. Some days will be more terrifying than others and some days will be wonderful."

Stability is one reason 25-year-old Canadian captain Olivia Apps of Lindsay, Ont., would like to continue to 2028.

"The rebuilding of the program, and starting from scratch, and really trying to figure out how to build a program that's sustainable, and a foundation that's really strong that can carry through for multiple quads, that was a huge challenge," Apps said. "I would like to say that we're kind of out the other side of it.

"We've built a lot of belief and confidence in what we're able to do, but also, it's important to say that we're only as good as our last game and we have a lot that we still need to do in order to keep rugby in Canada at the standard that we just had.

"Jocelyn being the new head coach, having the first woman as an Olympic program head coach for rugby in Canada is huge. What's great is that she's already been involved the last few years, so she can see what part she likes, what part she wants to change and make her own. There's a bit of some legacy there and some continuation, but also, she'll be able to add her own flavour."

Canadian players learned invaluable lessons on the pitch in Paris they can carry forward to L.A., Apps said.

"To have the most players under 25 or under 28 is huge," she said. "If you look at U.S.A., if you look at France, New Zealand their average ages is probably around 28, 29, 30.

"By 30, as a female athlete you're really coming into your peak. That's really exciting to think about."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2024.