Red Deer's Paige Farries and Rimbey's Courtney Holtkamp were among the 30 athletes named to the Canadian women's rugby team on Thursday for the upcoming WXV 1 tournament.
The WXV 1, the top tier level of WXV, is a global women's rugby competition set to take place in Vancouver from Sept. 29 to Oct.12, featuring the top six teams worldwide.
The countries participating in the competition include the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations which are England, France, and Ireland. They'll also feature the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series including Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” said Canada's head coach Kevin Rouet.
“All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
"France, Ireland, and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Holtkamp, who will suit up for Canada as a forward, is a member of the Red Deer Titans Rugby Club, and Farries, who plays back three, has played for the Calgary Saracens and the Westshore RFC out of Colwood, B.C.
Canada will play their first game of the tournament against France on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 4:45 p.m. MT at BC Place. They'll then face Ireland on Saturday, Oct. 5, and England on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Those interested will be able to watch all of Team Canada's games on TSN.
