Canada prepares for the Women’s Rugby World Cup final with headphones

The Canadian team prepares for the final match of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup against England, which will be played at a sold-out Twickenham. To adapt to the atmosphere, they have trained with headphones. Approximately 82,000 fans are expected to attend the stadium, which will set a new attendance record for a women’s rugby match. Most of the fans will support the “Red Roses”, while Canada, currently in second place in the world ranking, will seek to surprise. Asia Hogan-Rochester, a Canadian player, has experience playing in front of large crowds, having represented her country at the Paris Olympics last year.

I feel like after a certain amount of thousands, it’s all just noise and they can’t hear each other anyway.

Asia Hogan-Rochester

Hogan-Rochester, 26, also mentioned the local fan factor and how the team focuses on communication. The Canadian team conducted a special training session using headphones to simulate crowd noise and focus on communication. The attendance record for a women’s rugby 15s match is 58,498, set when England won the 2023 Six Nations Grand Slam. Initially, noise from a soccer game was used during training, but due to synchronization issues, a large speaker was used. Coach Kevin Rouet explained that the goal was to get used to the noise and not being able to hear each other, as well as to change the dynamics of the training and release the pressure.

Canada could rise to the top of the world rankings if it achieves a surprising victory. The Rouet team defeated the current champions, New Zealand, in the semifinals. Hogan-Rochester, with three tries in the tournament, commented that the team still has much to offer.