London (AFP) – Canada’s Alysha Corrigan hopes the knowledge she gained competing in front of a partisan home crowd at last year’s Paris Olympics will serve her well in a Women’s Rugby World Cup final against tournament hosts and favourites England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The wing was involved in the Maple Leafs’ march to Olympic Sevens silver at the 2024 Games, with the team defeating France in front of some 66,000 fans before losing to New Zealand in the final — a game where Corrigan scored a try. Saturday’s match, however, is set to take place in front of over 82,000 spectators at the sold-out home of English rugby union, thereby setting a new world record for an attendance at a women’s 15-a-side match by surpassing the 58,498 who watched England beat France at Twickenham during the 2023 Six Nations.
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“Getting the opportunity to play in front of a record crowd is something special,” Corrigan said Friday. “We’ve had the chance to play (in front of) a home crowd in a knockout game and that’s something we can take confidence from. It doesn’t change the way we’re going to play tomorrow; we know that we have loads of Canadians cheering for us, so we’re really excited.”
Canada have lost 13 Tests in a row to England, with the Red Roses currently on a world record 32-match unbeaten run against all opponents. But the Maple Leafs, second to England’s first in the world rankings, produced the performance of the World Cup so far with a 34-19 win over double-defending champions New Zealand in last Friday’s semi-final in Bristol that exemplified Canada’s pace and power.
“This (final) is a moment we’ve been building for and waiting for three years (World Cup), so we’re excited it’s finally here,” said Corrigan. “We’ve had eight days to soak in all the emotions and ‘be where our feet are’,” she added, with Canada looking to go one better after losing to England in the 2014 final — their only previous appearance in the showpiece match.
Corrigan is one of several Canada players appearing for clubs in England’s elite Premiership Women’s Rugby competition, with the Saracens flyer saying: “They know us and we know them, so it works both ways, but it definitely helps that we’ve played against each other every week for the last year. You know the tendencies of certain players, but they also know your tendencies. So it’s going to be exciting. It’s fun to have friends on their side.”
© 2024 AFP
