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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