Canada may sit out the opening match day at the Women's Nations Cup on Monday, but the hosts are determined to seize the opportunity of playing four sides who will also be contesting the Women's Rugby World Cup in 12 months time.
The hosts will play four games in 10 days against South Africa, France, USA - all at Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario - and then defending champions England at Fletcher's Field in Markham.
Ten members of Canada's squad for the Nations Cup played in the last Women's Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2006 when they finished fourth, including lively scrum half Julia Sugawara, wing Maria Gallo and prop Leslie Cripps.
"Rugby World Cup 2010 is around the corner, I believe to beat the best you must play the best," assistant coach Kris de Scossa told irb.com. "This tournament is a great platform in our preparation to do just that and again shows the quality of event that we in Canada can produce.
Performance culture
"We are looking to take full advantage of this time together to enhance our 'performance culture' and enable our players to compete and gain the highest rewards.
"We are also very aware of the next 30 players who are not able to be here, they are working hard on our programme and underpinning our strength in depth.
"It is a very exciting time for Women's International Rugby with the inroads we are making in Canada with the massive growth in female participation and the IRB initiatives to stimulate and support emerging nations, especially in the Americas, means the future looks good."
This is a sentiment echoed by scrum half Laura Stoughton, who started in Canada's 25-17 victory over their USA neighbours in a one-off Test in June and insisted the target for the World Cup is to "compete and win".
"The Nations Cup provides our Canadian Women's team the opportunity to play some of the best rugby teams in the world," added Stoughton. "This is such a key part of our preparations leading up to the 2010 World Cup.
'Reaching our potential'
"Under the coaching of John Long and Kris de Scossa we continue to develop as players and improve as a team. John and Kris, together with the addition of other new staff to our programme, are striving to create the most professional set up for us so that we can reach our full potential by the World Cup.
"Our goal is not just to attend a World Cup, but to compete and win!
"We realise the enormity of the challenges that lay ahead of us, compounded by the fact that all other nations are improving as well. As such, every opportunity we are afforded to train together as a team and play high level opponents, as will be the case at Nations Cup, helps us work towards our goals.
"It allows us to work on new things we may be implementing, refine skills and identify further opportunities for development. The exciting part for me is knowing how hard myself, all my teammates and all our staff are working. How dedicated and committed we are to this program and becoming the best we can.
The Women's Nations Cup kicks off on Monday when the two tournament newcomers - France and South Africa - meet in the opening match at Appleby College at 16:30 local time, followed by England's encounter with USA.
Canada Women's squad:
Marie Eve Brindamour Carignan, Paige Burdett, Leslie Cripps, Kim Donaldson, Marlene Donaldson, Tara Eckert, Gillian Florence, Maria Gallo, Megan Gibbs, Brooke Hilditch, Corrine Jacobsen, Heather Jaques, Jennifer Kish, Mandy Marchak, Lesley McKenzie, Barbara Mervin, Ashley Patzer, Cheryl Phillips, Danielle Rowlands, Kelly Russell, Anna Schnell, Stevi Schnoor, Tabitha Stavrou, Laura Stoughton, Julia Sugawara, Sarah Ulmer, Brittany Waters, Julianne Zussman.
