From university pub to Test starter: Lizzie Gibson's rapid rise with Canada

Lizzie Gibson was sitting in a Kingston, Ontario pub with her Queen’s University teammates when Canada played in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup final. That same afternoon, she scored 20 points as the Gaels beat the Western Mustangs 80-3 at Nixon Field. Twelve months on, she is a Test starter for the nation she watched from the stands.

The journey between those two moments ran through New Zealand. Unable to play university rugby in Canada after exhausting her five years of U Sports eligibility, Gibson enrolled at the University of Otago on an exchange programme, joined the Alhambra Broncos and trained with Farah Palmer Cup side the Otago Spirit. The gamble paid off quickly: in March she received a call-up to the Pacific Four Series.

“I was so ecstatic. I really didn’t expect it,” Gibson told RugbyPass. “I was with my girlfriend in New Zealand when it happened, and we were both crying at the computer. Then I told my mum, and she was crying.”

Her first two appearances, against New Zealand and the USA Women’s Eagles, amounted to just 31 minutes of rugby. By the time the WXV Global Series arrived in September, head coach Kévin Rouet had seen enough to hand her a starting berth. She has scored four tries this autumn and played 54 minutes in Canada’s historic victory over England in Toronto — the result that ended the Red Roses’ 41-match unbeaten run.

The foundations were laid during five years with the Gaels, where Gibson became the record points scorer in U Sports competition with 571 points and leads the all-time conversions chart with 179. She also owns one of Sophie de Goede’s bespoke kicking tees — a detail that speaks to how quickly she has been absorbed into a squad that includes the 2025 World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year, Laetitia Royer and the rest of Canada’s elite.

“I’ve basically wanted to make this team since I started playing rugby,” Gibson said. “A few years in, I realised it could be a practical goal.”

Sport was never in short supply growing up. Gibson played hockey and soccer throughout childhood, and by the end of Grade 12 she was juggling five disciplines — rowing in the mornings, rugby in the evenings, sevens, flag football and hockey. That restless athleticism has translated seamlessly to the Test arena, and by her own admission, the speed of it all still feels surreal.

“It’s been a pinch-me year,” she said.