Canada Column: Tyson Beukeboom, anticipating a fourth Rugby World Cup

Our opening Pacific Four Series game against the USA was a good start to the year. We’re always happy with a win; that was the goal, but there are definitely lots of learnings coming out of that game.

We weren’t together as long as we’d hoped to be before the game – that’s just how it is for the Canadian rugby team. However, we did what we could with the time that we had, and I think that’s one of our team’s strengths. We dive right in, and we really start building right off the bat.

We’ve definitely got some things to fix from that game. There are some areas where we did some great things that we’re really happy with, and then there are some areas where we’ve got some tweaking to do. It was an exciting start, it was a great crowd. I’d never been to Kansas City, so that was fun. It’s a really cool little city, and it was an unbelievable stadium and atmosphere for that game.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

We’ll be hosting the USA in Ottawa in August before we go to the World Cup, which is an exciting prospect for us. There were almost 11,000 for the game against the USA last week, and the last time we played in Ottawa, we had a little over 8,000, so hopefully we can break both of those records in August.

We have a really good fanbase that is central to a very big portion of people that support us, and a lot of our team is from very close to Ottawa. It should be exciting to have lots of friends there, especially coming off of WXV. I think there will be a lot of hype around our team, especially on our way to the World Cup.

We arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday morning as we continue our PAC 4 journey. It’s been good so far, we had two training sessions and then an off day, before an intrasquad session. We’re in a hotel in the middle of Christchurch at the moment as we prepare to play New Zealand. It’s really nice here, we were here in the same hotel last year as well.

On our off day, we had some meetings in the morning to review the game against the USA and look at how we moved forward through the training sessions up until today, and then spoke about what we want to try and implement into our intrasquad tomorrow. I tend to be pretty lazy outside of rugby, so I didn’t get up to a whole lot and I had a relaxing rest day to decompress after a lot of travel.

The best part of being in camp is that all of my friends are here. Some of the closest friends that I have are on the team so it’s nice to be able to spend time with them. In the last two years, I feel like my life has mainly been rugby – so it’s similar to what I’m used to doing, just a different team, which is also refreshing in and of itself.

 

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Being with one team for six months, by the end of it, can become a bit routine, by no means in a bad way. Going into camp with the Canadian team helps to shake things up a bit, refreshes rugby, makes it a little bit more exciting by giving a different picture, and it’s nice to have some fun with the girls.

Last year was the first time we’d ever beaten New Zealand, but we got the monkey off our back in terms of getting the first win under our belts. New Zealand aren’t a team that will let you rest. If we can put out an 80-minute performance next weekend, play our style of rugby, and go out and do our best to control the momentum of that game, I think we’re going to be in a great place.

We’re a team that focuses very much on the moment, but the World Cup is definitely in the back of our minds. We’re focusing on what we’re doing right now to beat New Zealand, but the ultimate goal is to use that win and the journey that we’re on right now to win the World Cup.

We’ve got a big group of our sevens girls back into camp after the HSBC SVNS Series, and they always bring the energy and excitement with them, so there’s a lot of positive vibes and really exciting, talented players playing with us.

As a team, we’re also good at keeping it light. We’re very focused, very dedicated, and very committed, but we’re also good at letting loose and having fun off the field, and leaving rugby where it belongs when it’s time to relax and switch off.

Everyone is excited and working hard to build to next week against New Zealand, but the bigger picture of the World Cup final is in the back of our minds.

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Hopefully, this will be my fourth World Cup. It still blows my mind that it’s something I could be participating in. The difference this time around is that we really are in a position where we have the ability to win the World Cup.

In the three previous World Cups, it’s always been something that, if, on the right day, with the right timing, and everything else falling into place, it could have happened, but it never has. Now, we’re in a position where we’re on a bit of a roll, we’re building.

Everyone can see, even those outside of our team, that we’re building towards something big. It’s now as simple as us having to put the performance down. If we do that, we can do big things with this team.

I’m in a very different position now from what I was in my first World Cup. That final in 2014, I was hoping that my team would do the best they could, but secretly hoping I wouldn’t be put on the field, because I was scared!

Ahead of this one, the feeling is one of excitement. We have the ability and skills within our team to do it. Maybe one of the biggest differences is that we also have the support now too. In 2014, I don’t think anyone expected us to get to the final, let alone challenge in that final.

Now, everyone can see that we are definitely in contention for this World Cup. There also seems to be a trend that people forget that we are here, and we have been here for the last 11 years now. The nice thing is this year, I don’t think anyone is forgetting that. Hopefully, we can put that stamp down and finish it.

Our game against England in WXV last year, I feel like we lost it, I don’t think they beat us. It’s a hard pill to take, but it’s also a massive vote of confidence for our team. We should have won it, we left a lot of points on the field.

We’re going to have more time together, more opportunities to really develop our team and skills, and do what we need to do to make the final this time around. With all of those resources that we don’t usually get, I think we’ll be able to finish it this time. Being that close in that WXV match gave us the confidence that it’s not a question of ‘Can we beat England?’ Now it’s yes, we can.

It’s going to make it very difficult if we do face England, playing them in a home World Cup. It’s always hard to go up against a home team, and it’s expected that they will be in the final as well.

The nice thing is that most of our team play in the PWR, so we see them day in, day out. We know their strengths, we know their weaknesses, and it also diminishes the lore of England being untouchable, because we see them all the time.

If we meet them in the final, there’s going to be a massive crowd, and most of that crowd will be cheering for them, but that’s okay. We’re ready for it. As far as women’s rugby goes, the World Cup is going to be epic, to say the least.

It’s going to be massive, and there will be so many eyes on the game, it’ll be a really exciting time for any team to be part of the World Cup. Coming off the back of a World Cup in New Zealand, that really set the tone for women’s rugby. The final was unbelievable to watch, and this one will be even bigger. To be a part of that and in that game with that many eyes on it is going to be spectacular.

The last few months in the PWR all went by in a blur, there was a lot of rugby in a very short amount of time! For Canadian players, we don’t get to spend a lot of time together in national camp, we were apart for six months, so connecting with each other even when we’re on opposite sides of the field playing in the PWR is really nice.

We had Rori Wood join us at Trailfinders this season after making her Canada debut at WXV. I remember first meeting Rori when she was about 16.

There aren’t many people who make me feel small, and I especially didn’t expect a 16-year-old to make me feel like a small person, but I remember her coming out to training, and she was so tall and so athletic, and she ran the show around the club. I thought at the time – wow, she’s going to be good someday.

Now we’ve played a season together in the PWR, I really didn’t think that would ever happen because I didn’t think I would still be playing at this point if I’m completely honest! She made a massive impact at Trailfinders.

We really needed someone to come in and take control, especially in the set piece, and she did that. She’s going to continue to be very successful in the PWR and on the international stage as she is now. She’s going to be a special player.

For Trailfinders in the PWR, we really felt like we had a lot of fun last season. We showed who we are, perhaps not as much as we’d like to, through the whole season, but we continue to build from the first season together into our second. Now we’ve dispersed into our international teams, and we’ll get to meet each other on the field at the World Cup.