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By Kofi Danso
In the 53rd minute at TD Place, Pam Buisa stepped off the bench and into a hometown crowd of 13,117.
When Buisa looked up into the stands, she wasn’t just seeing a crowd. She was seeing her story.
“I saw my mother, my sister, the coaches who coached me too,” the Ottawa Irish Rugby Club product from Gatineau said in French after helping the Canadian women’s rugby team knock off world #1 England 31-22 on Friday night at TD Place. “Having people who saw me when I started, my journey … it was a dream come true.”
Canada closed out the Rugby Rematch Tour – branded as such as a nod to the two finalists of the 2025 World Cup, which 33-13 won by host England – with a second triumph over England in a week, following a 24-21 win in Toronto on Oct. 16.
For Buisa, it was her first time back at TD Place since August of last year, when she earned her first cap at home in Canada’s win over the United States. That night’s crowd of 11,453 was then a North American record for a standalone women’s rugby match.
This night, Buisa said, felt even bigger. The turnout of this match, following the new record crowd of 18,621 filled BMO Field in Toronto a week earlier, showcased how quickly women’s rugby is growing in Canada.
“The last time we were here, it was before the World Cup,” noted the 29-year-old. “There are tons of people who came to encourage us even more.”
Buisa’s connection to the capital runs through the Ottawa Irish, the club where she played early in her career. On Friday, she spotted a few familiar faces from those years.
“I even saw the coach who showed me how to pass the ball,” smiled the Tokyo 2020 Olympian. “This is where I started.”
Buisa now plays professionally in Premiership Women’s Rugby and feels “excited” for the start of the season on Nov. 20 with her new club, the Loughborough Lightning. But she was fully soaking up the energy of what Canadian rugby has become where her journey in the sport began.
“Rugby isn’t only something that happens in England,” Buisa highlighted. “It’s happening here, in Ottawa, in Gatineau, in Toronto, here in Canada. There are so many people encouraging us. It’s alive here. So I’m very happy.”
Buisa’s role in the Ottawa fixture was to impact the game and ride the momentum her teammates had begun. Her mission came from head coach Kevin Rouet, she explained, and it was simple.
“A big thing that Kevin said is to bring five per cent better than you were last week,” Buisa indicated. “When I came off the bench, it was the physicality, but also knowing what I bring and backing my teammates.”
In the Toronto match – when Canada halted England’s remarkable 41-game winning streak – Buisa entered the contest with her team trailing 21-12 before a pair of tries lifted Canada to the upset.
In Ottawa, it was a similar story as Buisa entered in the 53rd minute with Canada trailing 17-12. Her arrival gave Canada an immediate injection of energy and physical presence in the back row, and she helped push the pile for the second of back-to-back tries by captain Sophie de Goede to give Canada the decisive points. It was the first time England has lost twice in a row in 10 years.
“Finishing the job is what we wanted to do in that last game,” Buisa underlined. “Come to this game, do the same thing. Everybody brings their five per cent and leaves everything on that field.”
The crowd, she added, was a big part of that push and gave the players an extra boost when they roared for substitutions.
“You wait for the people cheering us on,” she signalled. “It helps enormously.”