Canada Head coach Kévin Rouet told his team to heal WXV Global Series like the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
This weekend, Canada will begin its campaign against the WXV Global Series Scotland in Edinburgh, before he took over England in the replay of Ženski Rugby World Cup 2025 final and then France to close September.
Canada will host England in Toronto and Ottawa in October to conclude a five-match Test series.
Playing some of the toughest opposition in the world of women’s test match rugby, Canada’s head coach wants his players to learn from two months of touring and high-quality game minutes.
“The tour feels like the World Cup,” Rouet said. “The way I presented (it) to the girls was that the first three games were pool games and the Canada game would be our semi-final and final.
“We know we’ve had less preparation than any team in August, we know we need to be patient. We haven’t had a lot of time together. We’ve got to play Scotland, England and France.”
“We have to accept that we will continue to build in those games and put more pressure on ourselves when we get back home to Canada, in front of our fans – making sure we are sharp and precise in the details.
“It’s a process right now. It’s a good building for us. Being together for six, seven weeks, that’s what we miss sometimes. It’s nice to see the building.”
So far in 2026, Rouet has made his debut for seven players in Canada. This weekend, that number will become 10 when double Olympic medalists Charity Williams, Savannah Bauder and Sophie McDonald get game time on Saturday.
In their only tournament of the year, Canada finished second Pacific Four Series as the Black Ferns came first in the four-team competition. As a result of Canada’s 36-14 loss to Team Whitney Hansen in April, New Zealand are currently the third ranked team in the World Rugby Rankings.
Still in early development at the beginning of a Women’s Rugby World Cup cycle, there is a clear sense that Canada is just beginning to grow.
Rouet will come face-to-face with the former assistant coach on Saturday afternoon in the Scottish capital. For 13 months, Dave Butcher served as assistant coach to the French on their way to the final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup. He is now the interim head coach of Scotland Women.
It’s been a quick rise for Butcher. He only joined Scottish Rugby in March and took over the top job on an interim basis after Sione Fukofuka stepped down as head coach after eight months in charge. Eight months that yielded only fifth place in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations 2026.
Conflict with former colleagues is something Rouet has become accustomed to in recent months and knows exactly what could be in Butcher’s future.
“You know what, it happened to me this year with Jack Hanratty (former Canadian Women’s Weeks head coach) with the USA,” Rowett grinned. “And we will play against France, coached by François Ratier (former Canadian women’s head coach).
“I’m excited for Dave. It’s a great opportunity. I know it’s not easy to come in and get an interim job. I joked with him, I said it happened to me. I got an interim job and got promoted to head coach. You never know what can happen.”
Since Butcher’s appointment as interim head coach of Scotland, his team has hinted at a new, faster style of rugby.
After announcing his squad for Saturday, Butcher said:
“We want to play a multi-stage game that’s really, really fast and enjoyable for players and people to watch. But we also want to have that real hard edge that the Scottish teams have.”
That attacking flair should come as little surprise given Butcher’s experience with Canada.
In two stints with Canada, the team won the 2024 Pacific Four Series title and finished as runners-up at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. This included a first win against the Black Ferns, achieved in a style of rugby that left the crowd breathless.
Ahead of this weekend’s game, Butcher said his team had “no fear” ahead of facing Canada at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.
The idea of seeing fire attack vs. fire attack on Saturday afternoon is certainly intriguing. Saturday will be the first chance to see Scotland’s new style of play in action, which is why Canada’s preparations remain largely in-house.
“You don’t really know what’s going to happen because it’s a short turnaround,” Tessier said. “Equally, if they start playing similar to us, we know it, because we play against each other all the time.
“We’ll be ready for it. We almost have to focus on ourselves a little bit more because we don’t know exactly what they’re going to do. You don’t want to waste time on something that could be completely different on Saturday.”
