Canada reborn: Piper Logan calls tune for new-look squad

“To be honest,” Piper Logan muses, “a lot of it is just bravery.”

It’s media day for Canada’s Olympic silver medal-winning women’s sevens squad in Vancouver, ahead of their home HSBC SVNS tournament, and – in keeping with her perennially sunny demeanour – the 23-year-old’s allowed the oasis of calm which should have been her lunch break to be hijacked by this conversation.

Talk has turned to physicality, and how effectively the lean flyer uses her 1.65m frame.

“People tell me I don’t look like a rugby player, but that doesn’t make me any less strong, or fearless, nor stop me putting myself out there and succeeding. I use it to my advantage: opponents underestimate me… until I put a big shot in.”

It makes sense, given that these athletes boast some of sport’s most formidable power-to-weight ratios, that it all started on the gymnastics mat. A decade of vaults, tumbles, and aerial pyrotechnics proved the perfect springboard for a competitive teenager seeking their next challenge. 

“There are a lot of similarities,” Logan says. “You’re constantly on the ground or falling, your body’s in weird positions, and you’re very uncomfortable – which all helped with the rugby transition. I thrived in those testing situations, and fell in love.

“What I struggled with was that gymnastics is all about striving for perfection, so I found myself on a real learning curve. I was so hard on myself, when the reality is that you never have a perfect game in rugby.”

In the gymnasium, she always sought perfection, but had to learn that – for all the drills executed and plays run in training – on the rugby pitch, players have to live in chaos, thrive on instinct. 

“They’re worlds apart. Once I learned how to embrace that, I unlocked a whole new part of my game.”

Logan turned 21 a fortnight before making her debut at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. “No one was expecting the rookie to go out and perform, so I was able to roll with the inevitable mistakes,” she says, modestly. 

In fact, she dazzled her way into the tournament’s Dream Team. “I had so much fun, and hold those memories very close to my heart.”

She was, immediately, a fulcrum within Jack Hanratty’s maple-emblazoned tyros. 

The coach’s rebuild, after the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, was mammoth: 23 players made their debuts across the shortened cycle to Paris 2024, and – for some – leadership responsibilities arrived very soon after. 

Learning to shoulder such pressure was, ‘really tough’. But the result was an unshakeable self belief. 

“We were all either working or in school, and had to step away from that to fully dedicate ourselves to Paris,” Logan says. “A lot of sacrifices were made. We were there from 8am until 5pm every single day – but 5pm would roll around, and we’d be like ‘who wants to come round for a movie night?’.

“We were still trying to find ways to spend time with one another, because we genuinely wanted to. There was such deep love and appreciation, knowing and trusting how much every single one of us had put into that team, which proved so powerful.’

Logan crossed the Stade de France whitewash four times – a feat matched by five others, and bettered by eight – but no one scored tries with as much significance as Canada’s number 11.

They first put a threatening China away in the pool stage. Then, the tournament entered the knockout phase, and Logan came into her own. Her quarter-final opener, against home-crowd favourites Les Bleues, was a blistering 75-metre hurtle from the base. France retaliated – but Logan was not done. On a sweltering July evening just outside Paris, she scored again to keep Canada in the game before Chloe Daniels decided the match in the final minute. 

In the semi-final, Australia led 7-0 within 90 seconds of the kick-off, but tenacity and sheer hunger saw the HSBC SVNS champions reeled in to within touching distance, before scrum-half Logan conjured up an extraordinary, jinking weave through golden jerseys to splash down for history.

She coyly accepts that she has a knack for clutch plays. And we have to head back to the gymnasium for a reason: “I come from an individual sport: you’re on your own out there,” Logan says. “Even if no one else will, I’m going to back myself. Add in my teammates’ faith in me, and there was total belief.”

Canada: Olympic finalists. A guaranteed medal. Dreamland. 

In the end, Stacey Waaka ensured ferns, rather than maples, adorned the podium’s top step, but – even on screaming legs and empty tanks – Canada relished the entire thing. 

“Paris was unbeatable,” Logan says. “Exactly what we wanted. We’re so, so proud of it.”

Cut to Dubai. A new coach, in Jocelyn Barrieau; a new captain, in Logan herself; a new, less structured, style of play; and a fresh-faced squad, featuring precious little experience and seven debutants. It showed. 

Defeats to Japan and New Zealand were bruising, and their reward for navigating Brazil was being carved apart 39-0 by Australia in the quarters. The Blossoms had the better of them again, and Canada finished 8th – their lowest placing since 2023.

The skipper, though, wasn’t overly concerned by that particular metric. “Some of the scorelines were disappointing, but we’d always known there’d be a lot of learning to do. 

“Our priority was to make sure everyone enjoyed it. I’d loved my own debut so much, and wanted that for our girls in Dubai, so we kept the pressure right off.”

They also knew that they’d go again immediately, and – days later – were tangibly more cohesive and competitive en route to fifth in Cape Town. “That proved something really exciting, which we’d all suspected: that this group is incredibly coachable.”

Six weeks on, they were transformed again: semi-finalists in Perth after an unbeaten pool performance and trio of competitive play-off outings. Logan herself was unplayable at times: a wily crackle of static transforming defensive cracks into chasms on a whim.

“The way we implemented those changes each time was amazing. Not only are these girls great athletes, but they’re wonderfully open to feedback, and learn so quickly. This season is going to look really bright for us: I can feel it.”

Next up? The small matter of their home tournament. Logan lights up at the prospect of those young fans who might just see their Olympic medalists in action, and dream of competing on that stage themselves one day. “It’s so important they feel these doors are open to them.”

Her Vancouver fancy dress of choice? “The yetis, of course. They’re iconic.”

The tournament’s fundraising for the brilliantly-named ‘Mission: Win the World Cup’, which hopes to provide their XVs programme with CA$1million ahead of 2025’s marquee event. 

With good reason. While England’s Red Roses are favourites for the title, plenty think Logan’s compatriots could make the final … which begs the question: might she follow the likes of Krissy Scurfield into that format, with history beckoning from autumnal English shores?

“I’ve thought about it! I might try to join a camp or two, but it’s a really competitive squad - so I’d be honoured to even get the opportunity to poke my head in there. It’s not off the table! We’ll see…”

First, though: Vancouver SVNS, and – more immediately, still – lunch. All the bravery and tumbling ability in the world’s no good on an empty stomach.