HEAD COACH PROFILE – Kévin Rouet, the women’s 15s head coach for Rugby Canada, has accomplished a lot during his time with the national team. Before he took over, the biggest accomplishment for the national team was making the final of the 2015 Rugby Women’s World Cup. The national team was able to match or surpass this feat twice by finishing second in the inaugural WXV 1 competition and by winning this year’s Pacific Nations Cup by upsetting New Zealand in Auckland.
Kévin Rouet: Rugby Canada 15’s Women’s Head Coach
Kévin Rouet: Childhood and Background
Rouet was born in Colombes, which is a suburb in Paris, France. He played amateur rugby until the age of 22 in France. He then moved to Quebec and played at a men’s league there, but had no ambition to become a full-time head coach until his late 20s. His plan was to be a mechanical engineer, which is what he studied in France before taking a project management degree from the University of Quebec.
Rouet joined as an assistant coach in 2019 to Rugby Canada and became the full-time head coach of the national team in 2022. He was also the women’s head coach at Laval University, Rugby Quebec and Stade Bordelais.
Source: Sarah Mockford of Rugby World
Kévin Rouet: Rugby Canada (2022-Present)
Rouet became the full-time head coach of the women’s national team in 2022. The coach had high ambitions from day one with the national team. He even stated this when talking about the potential of this team (Source: Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press):
“We have the quality to achieve a podium finish at the Rugby World Cup and that will be our primary aim as our preparations continue over the coming months,” Rouet said in a statement.
Unfortunately, for Canada, they would just miss out as they finished fourth in the 2022 Rugby Women’s World Cup. They had a fantastic game against England in the semi-finals though, as that game went down to the wire. Still, progress was being made with the national team. They would host most of the games in the 2023 Pacific Nations Cup in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. There, they got record crowds in the loss against New Zealand.
The team continued to grow though and in the 2023 WXV 1 competition, Canada finished second. This was the highest placement for the Canadian national team since the 2015 Rugby Women’s World Cup. The biggest achievement for them though was probably the memorable win over New Zealand in the 2024 Pacific Nations Cup. Rouet talks about this change and big results in their last two major competitions (Source: Willy Billiard of Rugby Pass):
READ MORE: 2023 Rugby Canada women’s team review: A year to remember
Rouet is also appreciated and liked by his players on the national team. This is what veteran flanker Karen Paquin said about him in Neil Davidson’s The Canadian Press article:
“He’s a very good coach,” Paquin said of Rouet. “He’s very rugby-focused. He sees the game … We have to learn a lot of the reads. It’s quite challenging but he’s very clear in his vision and he knows where he wants to take us.”
Through Rouet’s tenure, he has been very successful, as the national team even achieved the ranking of the second best team in the world for a short period after beating New Zealand in the 2024 Pacific Four Series game earlier this year.
READ MORE: Kingsley Jones: The Rugby Canada 15s Men’s Head Coach
Rugby Canada at the WXV 1 Tournament
Rugby Canada Roster: https://x.com/WXVRugby/status/1837128223584358442
Rugby Canada has three games in late September and early mid-October. Their first game will be against France at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia at 3:45 PM PT (12:45 PM ET) on September 29. Then, on October 5, they will face the Republic of Ireland at 3:45 PM PT (12:45PM ET) at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, British Columbia before finishing off their tournament against England at 7:00PM PT (4:00PM ET) again at BC Place on October 12.
All three games will be televised nationally on TSN as all games, including the ones not involving Canada, will take place at either the Langley Events Centre or BC Place.
Photo Credit: Rugby Canada Facebook Page on April 14, 2023.
