Canadian presence felt in Harvard’s women’s rugby three

Members of Harvard's women's rugby team celebrate winning the 2025 NCAA Division I championship.

Although Canada’s defeat in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final two months ago brought the game to the forefront of the national sporting psyche, as a quadrennial event, going one better requires some liberal reserves of patience, among other qualities.

In the meantime, signs that Canada’s rugby renaissance might hold firm can be found in the U.S. college system, where a quartet of Canadian talent helped spur Harvard University to the first three-peat in the history of NCAA Division I women’s rugby over the weekend, as well as its record fourth title.

In Cambridge, Mass., Ava Ference, Sophie Hayes, Victoria Stanley and Gemma Ogoke all featured in the squad that edged Missouri’s Lindenwood Un