Sophie de Goede

The No 8 is following in the footsteps of both her parents in captaining Canada at a World Cup. RugbyWorld finds out more

SOPHIE DE GOEDE is talking about her mum, Steph, and the history she made as the first woman to captain Canada at a Rugby World Cup, in Wales in 1991, and then how she did it again in 1994 in Scotland.

Now she’s talking about her dad, Hans, who was the first man to captain Canada at a World Cup, in 1987 in New Zealand, and how he had stayed in the national team for 13 years.

“You might say I lucked out on the gene pool,” says the 23-year-old No 8 who, guess what, is about to captain her country at the World Cup. Mother, father and daughter all leaders of their nation on the biggest stage. The de Goedes are not just a rugby dynasty, they are a living and breathing trivia question.

A big, forceful ball-carrier with goalkicking prowess that dates back to her days as a fly-half, de Goede has presence, not just in what she does on the rugby field but in what she says off it.

When she talks about what this tournament in New Zealand means to her personally, and what she wants it to mean to the next generation of Canadian girls coming in her stead, it’s easy to understand why she was chosen to lead this team. She’s a brilliant communicator.

Her back story ain’t half bad either. “Mom captained Canada in our first-ever game and she was with the team for ten years. There’s not a lot, if any, footage of her playing but I hear about the legend she was. Mom always says that the older she gets, the better she becomes. I actually met somebody recently who played with her and she talked about her presence on the field and how calm she was and what a great leader she became. It was neat to hear that. Apparently she was a pretty ferocious flank.”

That’s mum. What about dad? Well, Hans captained Canada in the sport’s first-ever World Cup back in 1987, in the same country, New Zealand, where his daughter will lead them all