Canada prepares with headphones for historic final in Rugby World Cup

The Canadian selection is intensely preparing for the challenge that the 2025 Rugby World Cup final against England represents, a match that will be played in a full stadium at Twickenham. Approximately 82,000 fans will gather at the stadium, breaking the attendance record for a women’s rugby match. Most fans will be supporting England’s “Red Roses”, while Canada, currently ranked second in the world, will be looking to cause an upset. Asia Hogan-Rochester, a player from Canada, has experience in matches with large crowds, having represented her country at the Paris Olympics last year, where 66,000 people witnessed the start of the women’s rugby sevens program at the Stade de France.

Hogan-Rochester comments on the atmosphere:

I feel like after a certain amount of thousands, it’s all just noise and you can’t hear each other anyway. There’s also the local fandom element.

Asia Hogan-Rochester

The Canadian team implemented an unusual training strategy to adapt to the match environment.

We did a really cool training exercise of just putting on headphones so we couldn’t hear each other and really focusing on communication. We’re a team that reads each other’s minds when we play, so I’m really excited about that. We’re focused.

Asia Hogan-Rochester

The attendance record for a women’s rugby 15s match is 58,498, set when England won the 2023 Six Nations Grand Slam by beating France 38-33 at Twickenham. Initially, the Canada team used noise from a soccer field during their training, but due to synchronization problems, a large speaker was used, keeping the headphones to hinder communication.

Coach Kevin Rouet explains the goal of this strategy:

It was just to get used to the noise and not being able to hear each other, because we know that will be a factor. It was also to change the synergy of the practice, have more fun and release the pressure. It was just an idea. Whether it works or not, we’ll never know.

Kevin Rouet

Canada could rise to the top of the world rankings, surpassing England, if they achieve a victory in the final. The Rouet team defeated the defending champions, New Zealand, 34-19 in the semi-finals, after overcoming Australia in the quarter-finals and beating Fiji, Wales and Scotland in the group stage. Hogan-Rochester, with three tries in the tournament, added:

I feel like we haven’t seen it all yet, and we’ve already seen a lot of great things. This team is definitely a team that plays without limits. There is no perfect rugby game, but I feel like there is still a lot to give from the team.

Asia Hogan-Rochester