Canada flanker Karen Paquin insists previous failures against England are irrelevant as she prepares for a “hostile” Twickenham crowd in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final.
Paquin is one of three players in her country’s squad who were involved when the Maple Leafs were beaten 21-9 by the Red Roses in the 2014 final in Paris.
The 38-year-old was then among the try scorers in a 26-19 semi-final loss to England at the last World Cup.
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Canada, led by head coach Kevin Rouet, have impressed during the tournament but are underdogs as the hosts bid to claim glory with a 33rd consecutive Test victory.
“Being part of the 2014 final, there’s one thing that I learnt and that is you’re not trying to beat the team of 2014, you’re trying to beat the team that is in front of you,” said Paquin.
“I take massive pride from what we did back then. We all knew that we wanted to go one more and we didn’t at that point.
“It’s not about being better than that, it’s about beating the people that are going to be in front of us (on Saturday).
“It’s fuel in terms of pride and I know that the people from that team are all behind us big time. We hear it, we feel it, they message us.
“But we’re really focused on what’s happening here. It’s a different team, it’s a different coach, everything is different about it. We’re just focused on what we have to do here to make that happen.”
Paquin – the oldest member of Canada’s squad – is poised to win her 51st international cap as part of an unchanged team from the statement 34-19 semi-final win over defending champions New Zealand.
A sold-out Allianz Stadium crowd of approximately 82,000 is set to smash the attendance record for a women’s rugby match, which currently stands at 58,498.
“We’re preparing for the atmosphere to make sure we can hear each other and we can make the calls, stay calm, take the energy and not be overwhelmed by it,” said Paquin.
“I’ve played in games where the crowd was hostile and I expect that to happen this weekend – I don’t think it will be 82,000 Canadians in the stands! It’s going to be a huge atmosphere.”
Finals Week 😤
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Prop Olivia DeMerchant and lock Tyson Beukeboom, who are among the replacements, are the other surviving members of the 2014 squad.
Asked about previous experiences of facing partisan crowds, Paquin referenced Canada’s 18-16 semi-final win over hosts France 11 years ago and a 38-0 victory against Brazil at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“We say that it was 20,000 French people and 200 Canadian, so I would say that was pretty big,” she said of the France game, which set up the final with England.
“In Rio when we played against Brazil, I’ve been booed really badly – for running in a try – and it hurt my soul. But it’s fine, it’s sport.
“The fact the crowd is there is a big positive for all of us and it’s going to be special, for sure.”
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