Krissy Scurfield began to cry at full-time of Canada’s fifth-place final loss to Japan in Cape Town.
Not because she was disappointed with the result. Not because Canada had failed to podium in the opening two legs of the 2025/26 HSBC SVNS Series. She cried at the pure joy of playing rugby sevens again.
There are plenty of reasons for the 22-year-old’s outburst of delight. Her last outing for Canada Women’s Sevens was at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. A lacerated kidney ended her tournament early and she watched her teammates win a silver medal from a hospital bed.
In the year between she spent a term with Loughborough Lightning, where she starred in Premiership Women’s Rugby and had her sights set on a place at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Ultimately, she was not selected for the tournament in England and had missed her home country. So a return to sevens and British Columbia it was.
“I was just so grateful to be there,” Scurfield told RugbyPass. “I was grateful to come out of the tournament healthy. Obviously, we didn’t get the results that we wanted, but I felt like it was a good step in the right direction. I was just so happy to be playing for Canada again and being the best rugby player that I can.”
There was another, underlying, reason for Scurfield’s outpour of emotion on the Western Cape.
After she returned home from England the 22-year-old took her time thinking about the future. A phone call with Canada Women’s Sevens head coach Jocelyn Barrieau left the door firmly ajar and it was only after months of introspection that she made up her mind.
“She (Barrieau) was just like, you know what Krissy, I back you no matter what you want to do and I support you,” she said. “That just allowed me to have the comfort to make my decision and do what was best for me at the time.
“I spent a lot of time just thinking it in my head. I did a lot of hikes where I was alone with nature. It put me in a mode where I was forced to think. It was therapeutic in a lot of ways.
“Ultimately, I just went with a gut decision. I’ve made so many decisions in life just based off of what I feel like my gut is telling me and they have usually worked out.”
Scurfield’s gut might have nailed it again. Because now the flyer has every aspect of her life nailed.
On top of her rugby commitments Scurfield runs her own business as a personal trainer, Scurfield Athletics Inc. Her days consist of an early wake-up, training with other Canada teammates in the Victoria area, lunch and then spends the afternoon running her business. The 22-year-old is fairly certain she knows every coffee shop in Victoria.
Being closer to her family in Alberta is a comfort too. It is her safe space. The place the returns to after weeks of jet-setting on the Series. A few days at the base of the Rocky Mountains is sure to do anyone some good.
All this has contributed to an inner calm and glow that Scurfield could not find anywhere else. It is abundant in the way she speaks. In the way she smiles with contentment before answering a question.
Even in the sweetest of spots emotions can be whipped up. As she experienced on her return to sevens action in Dubai last November.
“It was kind of this ordeal,” Scurfield smiled. “But I was like; you know what, I’m just here for the ride. I wouldn’t necessarily say I felt super comfortable being back.
“Hilariously, I also didn’t know the full intensity of how hard I needed to be going.
“My very first tackle that I made was way too hard and I ended up being pulled off the field for a HIA. I forgot that I didn’t need to be hitting people 110 per cent every time.
“After that I got my groove back. It took me a little bit, and I feel really confident now. I feel great. I love sevens.”
Scurfield’s time playing 15-a-side for a season has added plenty to her game. Having broken onto the HSBC SVNS Series nearly four years ago, the 22-year-old developed a reputation for her raw speed and athleticism.
A season spent honing her talents in England’s East Midlands allowed the flyer to look at other parts of her game. She scored a staggering 14 tries in only 12 games.
On her return to the shorter format of the game she feels like a slightly different player. A more complete player.
Last weekend in Singapore as Canada finished on the podium for the first time this season, Scurfield scored three tries and hit 200 career points at her 20th tournament appearance on the Series. All weekend she played with such an intensity that she appeared to be everywhere at once.
She may just be the perfect weapon for Canada on the Series.
“I definitely have a bit of a different style,” Scurfield said. “I learned a bunch. I wouldn’t say I’m the exact same player I was. I’ve evolved as a player and now, I’m just trying to find the perfect balance of all these different things to level up.
“Sevens is my sport. That’s where I started with rugby. That is how I learned rugby. I think my vision, my skill and I’m a bit more of a playmaker. In had less space (in 15s) so I had to figure out other ways (to attack).
“Speed has always been my X-factor, but not it’s not the only thing I can do. I feel like I have a lot more tools in my toolbox.”
There is a slight grimace on Scurfield’s face when the topic of her omission from Canada’s Women’s Rugby World Cup squad comes up. Immediately she does not deny that disappointment in some ways paved her way back to the seven-a-side game.
The pursuit of selection for last year’s tournament was a driving factor for her signing with Loughborough.
Even with her PWR form, outings in the Pacific Four Series and against South Africa, Kévin Rouet opted for Alysha Corrigan, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Fancy Bermudez and Paige Farries as his wing selections for the tournament.
Instead Scurfield was consigned to being a fan as the side finished the tournament as runners-up to England’s Red Roses at Allianz Stadium. While that experience may not have been the thing she envisaged at the start of 2025, it was one which a certain Albertan grew to love.
“It was a big learning curve for me in a lot of ways because I had three months of just being me and not being a rugby player,” Scurfield said. “Every weekend I was on my computer at 4AM watching the girls play with my coffee and cheering.
“It was very disappointing that I wasn’t with the World Cup team, but it gave me a different perspective of how inspiring the group was. It gave me a different perspective because I was following all their social medias and I was like ‘oh my god the girls did this today’, ‘they’re playing today’, ‘I wonder how they feel after this.’
“It forced me to really figure out what I wanted to do and who I was outside of being a rugby player. I definitely grieved. But in a lot of ways, I’m super grateful for the experience because it set me up so well to be where I am right now.
“Maybe that’s a reason why I might be happier and have this joy of life because I have this balance.”
That fandom extended all the way to the final. Having made the decision to attend the showpiece finale in West London before a ball had been kicked, longtime teammate Olivia Apps arranged for Scurfield to attend the fixture.
Scurfield attended in a red morph suit, carrying Canadian flags and hiding from teammates family members in plain sight as they attempted to work out who the superfan was sat in the family and friend’s section.
Apps, along with fellow Women’s Rugby World Cup stars Alysha Corrigan, Gabby Senft, Fancy Bermudez and Taylor Perry have become teammates again these past weeks.
Four have been released from their PWR playing commitments to rejoin Barrieau’s side and made their presence known in Singapore as they contributed to a third-place finish. Apps, for one, was able to carry over her form with Saracens with devastating effect.
This weekend Perth and its luscious beaches await. A world away from the cold Canadian winter, the side have been named in Pool B with Australia, France and Great Britain.
Having learned plenty from opening season skirmishes in Dubai and Cape Town, there is a real feel that the rest of the season – which includes a March’s home leg in Vancouver – can yield more success.
“We all know each other and we know our style of play,” Scurfield said. “The challenge is that we only have a week or two going into a tournament to get on the same page – some of those players weren’t in Dubai and Cape Town.
“The biggest challenge for us is how we find a way to collectively get on the same page and have that cohesiveness. It is not a skill thing. We can be a top three team.”