It’s not quite David taking on Goliath as Canada challenge England in Saturday’s Women’s Rugby World Cup final but the financial gulf between the two teams is vast.
While the world number one hosts can wallow in the riches of a full professional set-up, the second-ranked Canadians resorted to crowdfunding to raise the extra one million Canadian dollars ($720,000) that they felt they needed to launch a serious tilt at the tournament.
Thus far, it seems to have worked. They stunned holders New Zealand in the semi-finals last week with a dazzling performance to set-up a decider at a sold-out 82,000-capacity Twickenham. They now stand one pace away from a first World Cup title.
Their preparation for the competition, however, started a year ago when Rugby Canada chief executive officer Nathan Bombrys met with head coach Kevin Rouet to discuss their plans.
“He worked out a plan, given our circumstances, for what it would take to send the team well prepared,” Bombrys told the Canadian Press on Tuesday.
“And then we priced it up. As an organisation we put (Canadian) $2.6 million behind the team – probably the most Rugby Canada’s ever put behind a team – but we identified a gap of a million bucks, so we said ‘OK, let’s go try to raise that money’.
“People laughed at me when I said ‘we’re going to raise a million bucks’,” Bombrys added, but “that’s what we did.”
In March, the crowdfund was launched, with the title “Mission — Win the Rugby World Cup” and 48 hours before the surprise last four victory over the Black Ferns, they had reached 95 percent of their goal.
“Even if we’re the second-best team in the world, it’s incredible,” scrum-half Justine Pelletier told CBC Sports in June about the crowdfunding.
“Just to get to a match, it takes more effort for us.
“At times it’s tiring to have to adapt, sometimes we’d like to be able to breath a bit,” she added.
– ‘Bigger than fame’ –
In the country of 41.5 million people and a total land and water mass only beaten by Russia, rugby union, and women’s rugby specifically, has to fight for attention and coverage.
Ice hockey reigns from Quebec to Vancouver via Toronto but Saturday’s game will be broadcast on the sports channel TSN and CTV, and mercifully avoids a clash with the NHL, with the new season not starting until early October.
Even so, there appears to be limited appetite, although at least one pub, McLean’s in Montreal, will be opening earlier than usual to screen it.
But then Pelletier and Sophie De Goede are hardly global names with the pull of someone like Ilona Maher from across the border in the USA. Not yet anyway.
Ten of Canada’s starting XV at Twickenham have contracts with English or French clubs but the squad is far from being fully professional, unlike their opponents on Saturday who are all full-time rugby players.
“In Canada, it’s not professional,” former international wing Frederique Rajotte told AFP.
“If you look at England, they have a budget of millions of dollars a year for this programme. It’s completely professional.
“But Rugby Canada couldn’t provide that amount of money, which is crazy. And that’s where crowdfunding comes in.”
Their march to Saturday’s showdown has been led by Saracens lock De Goede, who has been nominated for the World Rugby women’s player of the year award having unusually kicked 58 points from second-row — evoking memories of John Eales when he led Australia to the 1999 men’s World Cup.
“What we are doing is bigger than just winning the World Cup,” Saracens back-rower Laetitia Royer told RugbyPass this week.
“We’re doing it for rugby in our nation. Putting rugby on the map in Canada and opening up the possibilities for our future as professional athletes.
“Our way is so much bigger than fame.”
bur-iwd/bsp/bc