Canada's Olivia Apps vows 'completely different team' as Red Roses rematch looms

Olivia Apps has declared Canada a “completely different team” to the one beaten 33-13 by England in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final, as the two nations prepare to meet again at Sandy Park in Exeter this Saturday — 357 days on from that Allianz Stadium defeat.

The Canada scrum-half, who came off the bench in last year’s final in front of a record crowd of 81,885, has watched the loss back multiple times. Most recently she sat through the full match alongside Canada’s leadership group, an exercise she says has replaced grief with confidence.

“It’s like the start of a new chapter right now,” Apps told RugbyPass. “We took the year to really accept the World Cup final and take every single learning from that game that we could have. There’s not much emotion for me anymore because I feel like we’re a completely different team this year than we were a year ago.”

“We rewatched the World Cup final last week and I was like, holy shit our team is so much better now. Which I think is a big confidence boost. It is not the same team and I’m excited to start a new chapter with this group and not be afraid of the World Cup final.”

The personnel changes back that belief. In the 12 months since the final, Canada head coach Kévin Rouet has handed Test debuts to 10 players. Three of those came last week alone, during a 64-26 WXV Global Series win over Scotland in Edinburgh, where Charity Williams, Savannah Bauder and Lizzie Gibson — the latter having only earned her first cap in April — all crossed the whitewash.

Apps herself starts at Sandy Park, stepping up from her bench role in the final to direct play from the first whistle as Canada look to end England’s 39-match unbeaten run.

The fixture is the first of three meetings between the sides this year. Canada will also travel to La Rochelle to face France before returning for back-to-back Tests against the Red Roses — one at Toronto’s BMO Field, another in Ottawa. England head coach John Mitchell has already flagged the “rivalry” between the nations ahead of the series opener.

For Apps, the motivation is clear: the World Cup final no longer represents a wound, but a reference point from which Canada have already moved on.