Lizzie Gibson’s patience pays off with Canadian women’s rugby team

It has been a year full of milestones for Lizzie Gibson.

The 25-year-old from Caledon, Ont., earned her master’s degree in urban planning, celebrating the achievement by skydiving for the first time.

Gibson also made her debut for the Canadian women’s rugby team, coming off the bench in April in Canada’s 36-14 Pacific Four Series loss to New Zealand in Kansas City.

She has seen action in all four games since, starting the last three while scoring four tries.

“It’s very surreal. It’s a dream come true, honestly,” Gibson said in an interview. “I’m just soaking in every single moment and tying to relish every single second with the girls.

Canadian women’s rugby team look for long-awaited win over England’s Red Roses on home turf

“It’s been so much fun on and off the field.”

The third-ranked Canadian women return to action Friday when they renew their rivalry with No. 1 England in WXV Global Series action in Toronto.

Gibson opened the scoring for Canada with a sixth-minute try in a 26-26 draw when the two teams met Sept. 19 in Exeter. That snapped the Red Roses’ 39-game winning streak, a run that included last year’s 33-13 decision over the Canadians in the Rugby World Cup final.

Prior to the draw, Canada had lost 14 straight to England since a 52-17 win in July, 2016.

It’s a measure of the depth of the current squad at back row that Gibson has had to bide her time with the national team.

The hard-nosed back-rower has been “knocking on the door” for three years, according to Canada coach Kevin Rouet.

“She’s in a good head space,” he added. “She’s a mature rugby player, so yes she’s new to the game but she’s not new to the Canada system. It’s fun to see someone knocking at the door and grinding. When you release them, they prove they’re fully ready to challenge teammates and also be very good against top opposition.”

The France-born coach has plenty of back-row options to draw on with Gabrielle Senft, Julia Omokhuale, Fabiola Forteza, Pamphinette Buisa, Rachel Smith and Caroline Crossley all in the current squad.

Sophie de Goede, last year’s World Rugby women’s player of the year, has been shifted to the second row in part due to accommodate that talent.

“It’s been a long time trying to fight my way on to this team,” said Gibson. “And I think when the moment was right, it happened.”

Gibson hopes to use her success with the national team to earn a club contract overseas after the WXV.

Gibson made her mark at Queen’s, where she set a U Sports record with 571 points over five seasons (2019 and 2022-25) in a stellar career interrupted by the pandemic and a knee injury.

A gifted hockey and soccer player – she was invited to a Canadian under-17 soccer camp as a goalkeeper – Gibson found rugby in high school.

She was originally headed to lacrosse tryouts but was convinced to try rugby instead in Grade 9 when friends told her the team was going to tour Wales.

Rugby “immediately clicked.”

“It was so much fun and I was good at it,” she said.

After helping Mayfield Secondary School win the OFSA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) title in Grade 12, Gibson played on provincial teams.

Called up by the Canadian under-20 team, she made the transition from fly-half/centre to the forwards as a flanker.

At Queen’s, she earned an undergraduate degree in sociology and health before switching to urban planning, completing her postgraduate studies in New Zealand earlier this year with a semester at the University of Otago.

There she trained with the Alhambra Broncos and Otago Spirit.

It was in New Zealand that she jumped out of a perfectly good plane in a tandem parachute jump with an instructor.

“Those are the exact words that my mom used,” Gibson said with a chuckle. “I let her know afterwards when I landed safely on the ground.”

So would she do it again?

“I would 100 per cent do it again, but I’m not allowed to tell my mom until after it happens again,” she said.

“I would go from higher, I only went from 12,000 feet and you can go up to 15,000. Next time I’ll do the 15,000.”

Rugby Canada is expecting a crowd of more than 18,000 for Friday’s clash at BMO Field. Canada and England will meet again Oct. 23 in Ottawa.