Canada’s Ghislaine Landry, left, runs past a tackle from Russia’s Ekatarina Kazakova during their quarter-final match of the IRB Women's Sevens World Series in Barueri, Brazil.AFP / Getty Images
She's called the pocket rocket. She stands 5 foot 5 and weighs 137 pounds. She is in bed nightly at 8:30 p.m., to book a solid 9 1/2 hours of sleep. She sees the expanse of a rugby pitch, 100 metres by 70 metres, as a massive chess board.
Ghislaine Landry is one of the best women's rugby sevens players in the world, and this weekend she leads Canada in an international tournament at home in a Victoria suburb. It's the fourth of six events on the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series 2014-15 schedule and the first time the tour has come to Canada.
Canada ranks second in the standing behind powerhouse New Zealand and is poised to clinch a berth at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
"It's why we're out there," Landry said in an interview. "We want to go to Rio and we want to win a medal."
This is the third season of the women's rugby sevens series, an event that, alongside the men's game, was selected to join the Rio roster in 2009.
Sevens is mostly similar to traditional 15-a-side rugby union – but played much faster, given it's the same size field, yet each team has only seven players. Instead of an 80-minute battle, sevens flies in two halves of seven minutes each, which can produce spectacular results: rapid lead changes, a reliance on speed and an emphasis on tackles in the open field.
In this milieu, Landry and Canada have excelled.
Canada finished third in each of the first two seasons on the sevens series and this season is closing in on a place in the Olympics. The top four teams win automatic spots. Landry is the No. 2 scorer on the tour, behind Portia Woodman of New Zealand. Woodman was the top scorer in the inaugural 2012-13 season, with New Zealand on top, a title it defended last year, and is in first again this season.
Commentator Melodie Robinson, a former player for New Zealand, was asked who in particular stood out at the second tour stop of the year in Brazil, and she named Landry. "In terms of individuals, you can't go past Ghislaine Landry, the pocket rocket out wide for the Canadians."
John Tait, Canada's coach, said Landry has become a "technician" off the field, focused on video, nutrition and rest.
It is in part a response to an injury-plagued season last year. On the field, Tait said Landry produces offence in any instance. "She can create something out of nothing," Tait said. Landry has likened it to a big green chess board. "Every time you look, it's going to be a different picture," she said. "If I do this, what are they going to do? And if I do that, what are they going to do?"
What Canada needs to do, if it is to be contender for gold, and not just vie for bronze, is defeat New Zealand. Canada has finished third in the past six tournaments and has only reached two finals in three seasons. The first was the last tourney of 2012-13, when New Zealand defeated Canada 33-24. It was a turning point for the young team, Tait said. "We had a taste. We realized what it took to win."
Canada's last final, also against New Zealand, was early last season, in February, 2014, when it was smoked 36-0. Canada soon after proved it was a worthy opponent, losing to New Zealand in a semi-final 24-21, which began a steady series of third-place finishes. Canada again nearly beat New Zealand last month in Atlanta, losing a semi-final 24-22. Landry had opened the scoring with a try to put Canada up 5-0. New Zealand tied it. Landry pushed Canada up 12-5, but New Zealand tied at the half and then pulled away.
Now, Canada needs a breakthrough. "Canada is due a final," Robinson said. "It might just be a case of belief with this team."
At home, it could be tough: Canada is missing injured captain Jen Kish. If it was the Olympics, Kish would play, but Tait rests Kish for the final two dates on the schedule. Kish has expressed full confidence about making the Olympics. "I know that we're going to qualify," she said in early March.
Landry relishes Canada's next shot at New Zealand.
"Every mistake you make, they're going to score a try. They punish you," she said. "We know we can compete with New Zealand." A win, she concluded, "is a matter of actually doing it."
David Ebner