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Victoria's Crossley continues rugby comeback in XVs after winning Olympic silver in sevens

Crossley will follow up by dressing for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in XVs in its game this afternoon against France at ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Place
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ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ forward Caroline Crossley runs at New Zealand back Tyla King during the women’s rugby sevens gold medal match at the Summer Olympics in Paris on July 30. ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS

From the Stade de France over the summer to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Place Stadium today, the versatile Caroline Crossley of Victoria is proving a multi-tasker in all forms of rugby.

The Oak Bay Secondary graduate, a member of the Castaway Wanderers club from Windsor Park, was outstanding in helping lead ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ to the women’s rugby sevens silver medal in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Crossley will follow up by dressing for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in XVs in its game this afternoon against France at ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Place (3:45 p.m. PT on TSN-2). The game is the opener of the WXV-1 Tournament, which features the top six women’s national teams in the world.

“The team is looking forward to getting WXV-1 started on home soil here in Vancouver,” said ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ head coach Kevin Rouet, in a statement.

“Our journey and preparation for the World Cup [next year in England] starts now and we are looking forward to seeing a strong performance from the team against France. Training camp [in Langford] has been a great experience and the players have been working hard to prepare for the tournament. Everyone is excited to be back on the pitch.”

Crossley and Asia Hogan-Rochester, another sevens Olympic silver medallist for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in Paris, will earn their first XVs caps for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½. It’s been quite a career comeback for Crossley, who decided she needed time away from the game after a lifetime in rugby, before returning to it with such a splash after two years away.

“I needed to take some space for myself. It was a crazy 10 years I had been in the game. I did some other things but I decided I wanted to come back and try rugby again and am so happy and grateful I did,” Crossley told the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.

Also named along with Crossley and Hogan-Rochester from the silver-medallist sevens team, for today’s XVs Test against France, are Olivia Apps, Fancy Bermudez and Alysha Corrigan.

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