By The Canadian Press

Wardley, Daniels return as Canadian women set for HSBC SVNS rugby event

Mar 7, 2026 | 12:56 PM

VANCOUVER — Pulling on the Canadian jersey to compete at the HSBC SVNS Vancouver tournament this weekend is extra special for Keyara Wardley and Chloe Daniels.

Injuries have prevented both women from appearing with the national team since helping Canada win a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“It’s means everything,” Wardley said earlier this week. “All the hard work that not only I have done, but the team has done, to get where we are and to play rugby at home, it’s really exciting.”

Daniels said the long wait has been worth it.

“It feels like it’s been forever,” said the 22-year-old from Sutton, Ont. “It’s super exciting. Vancouver is my favourite tournament by far.”

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Wardley, a 26-year-old winger from Vulcan, Alta., has dealt with a string of injuries. She fractured her hip at the Tokyo Olympics. A year before the Paris Games she underwent surgery for a torn ACL. Then in October, she suffered a broken heel.

“This one has been a bit tough,” Wardley said about the heel. “It’s frustrating to get hurt at the beginning of the season and to watch everybody else do their thing.”

The road to recovery was as much mental as physical.

“It’s definitely a mental battle,” Wardley said. “There’s the angel and devil on your shoulder (saying) ‘I don’t want to deal with going through rehab again. Is it worth it?’

“In my head (I’m thinking) I’ve done this before. Just knowing there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I get to run out with my team again is something that really pushed me to overcome it.”

Daniels tore up her right ACL after returning to Queen’s University following Paris. She credits the support she received from Rugby Canada for helping in the recovery.

“I had a good community around me to help be get back to where I was,” said the fly-half who recently signed with the Bristol Bears of the Premiership Women’s Rugby in England. “Every ACL you have highs and lows.

“There’s definitely some hard times but there was never really a moment where I was not confident I’d get back to where I needed to be, just because I had such a great system.”

Before Wardley began playing rugby, she spent 14 years studying ballet.

“They both have their difficulties,” she said comparing the two. “Ballet, it’s just yourself, so you have to perform for yourself where rugby is performing for a team.”

Both are demanding on the body.

“Your feet are destroyed with ballet,” said Wardley. “With rugby, there’s obviously the contact part of playing.”

Wardley believes her ballet training does help her on the field.

“Being light on your feet, quick on your feel, I think is very transferable between the two,” she said. “That helped me with my career and transitioning into rugby. Just trying to be as light and quick on my feet as possible.”

The two-day tournament, which begins Saturday, brings eight women and eight men’s teams to BC Place Stadium.

With four of nine tournaments completed, the Canadian women are ranked fifth in the standings with 48 points, four points behind France. New Zealand leads with 78 points, followed by Australia with 74 and the U.S. 54.

The women’s best result was third in Singapore.

The Canadian men’s team is competing in the second-tier SVNS 2 series. They are ranked sixth with 10 points.

The men will play Japan and Chile in a double round robin this weekend that is not part of the SVNS 2 series.

The women will compete in Pool B where they open against the U.S. on Friday, then face Australia and Fiji.

Fiji leads the men’s standings with 70 points, followed by South Africa with 66 and New Zealand 62.

The finals are scheduled for Sunday.

Head coach Jocelyn Barrieau welcomes the return of Daniels and Wardley.

“It’s a pretty special thing to have them back,” said Barrieau. “They just bring experience and calmness. They’ve been pushed and now they’ve built another layer of resilience that I wish they didn’t have to build.

“In that level of resilience, I think we get a more mature and really excited duo that will look to rip it up again here in Vancouver.”

Barrieau said Wardley brings “an X factor” to the Canadian attack.

“The opposition will lose sight of (Keyera) and she’ll appear as one of the fastest and most powerfully balanced players that we have in our squad,” she said. “She’ll be able to make an impact immediately.”

Daniels adds “swagger” to the lineup.

“Chloe is very cool on the field,” said Barrieau. “The more people that we have that can stay calm and are able to do magical things with the ball, the better we’ll be.

“She sees the game well.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2026.

Jim Morris, The Canadian Press