X-Women rugby alumnus competes in international tournament

Former X-Women rugby standout Ghislaine Landry competed recently in the Nations Cup with the Canadian national team. Landry and her teammates managed a second place showing in the Oakville, Ontario tournament that featured England, the United States and South Africa. England defeated the Canadians 41-19 in the championship game.

“This was my first 15s tournament at the senior level, having been part of the senior 7s team since February, so I was excited for the opportunity that I had been waiting for,” says Landry. “That excitement was matched by nerves and the challenge to perform at the top level, and while I'm happy with the way I performed I know the hard work has just begun. There is much to learn every time you take the next step up the ladder.”

Landry continues, “We were a pretty young team that didn't play to our full potential (especially against England, the No. 2 ranked team in the world), and I think despite the results it is really promising for our future over the next four years leading up to the next World Cup.”

This summer marks the first full year that the Toronto native has been a member of the Canadian senior women’s team. Landry, a 2010 StFX Human Kinetics graduate, has been a member of the national rugby 7’s team, competing in past international tournaments with that squad. Current X-Women athletes Asya Bartley and Magali Harvey are on the non-travelling reserve list for the national 15’s team.

The Nations Cup tournaments are organized jointly by USA Rugby, the RFUW (England) and Rugby Canada. Two tournaments are held every other year, one for the senior women's national teams and one for the women's Under-20 national teams, with rotating host locations. 

Canada had a 2-1 record heading into the championship game against England (3-0), with their only loss coming in earlier round robin action, by a hard fought 22-10 score, also to England. They had round robin victories over the United States (35-17) and South Africa (52-17). Landry started in all four games for the Canadians and scored 4 tries over the course of the tournament.  She scored three tries in the game against South Africa and one against the US. 

Landry graduated from StFX as one of the most decorated female student-athletes to ever wear an ‘X’ jersey, in any sport. She was a four-time CIS All-Canadian and AUS Most Valuable Player and a two-time CIS Player of the Year. She received the StFX Female Athlete of the Year award in each of her four seasons played (2006-2010) and was one of four female nominees for the 2009 BLG Award for the CIS Player of the Year. She won a national rugby title with the X-Women in 2006 and was a two-time CIS silver medalist (2009, 2008). She also holds several AUS scoring records, including being the career scoring leader with 352 points.

To view recaps on all of the games played by Landry and the Canadian national team at the recent Nations Cup, visit the Rugby Canada website.