With a second-place finish at the womens rugby World Cup, Canada showed it deserved a place among the sports elite teams. Figuring out how to stay there is the next challenge, and it could be a big one. The Canadian womens team received unprecedented exposure during its run to the final of the World Cup, which ended in a tough 21-9 loss to England on Sunday. Canadas games were televised live, and winger Magali Harveys brilliant 100-metre try against France in Canadas semifinal win made highlight reels across the country. But even after such a successful tournament, head coach Francois Ratier said in an interview after the final that its possible the team might be forgotten after what he called its "15 minutes." It remains to be seen how Rugby Canada builds on the historic World Cup performance, the precedent set by the sustained interest in womens soccer after Canadas bronze-medal performance at the London Olympics could serve as a possible model. "I think the fact that it was shown on TV is going to make a huge difference, because women around the world and especially in Canada got to see what we were doing on the field and see what it was all about," Harvey said on a conference call Wednesday. "So Im hoping that its going to promote the sport and push females around Canada to try that sport or any other sport." But as helpful as the exposure is, there are hurdles. Ratier said fundraising for the team was a considerable obstacle and getting fixtures against quality teams is a challenge for Canada, but not European teams. Ratier said Wednesday one of the key challenges facing Canada over the next three years is developing depth. While Canadas roster has star power — Harvey won the IRB womens rugby player of the year award, while captain Kelly Russell, who Ratier calls Canadas best player, was a finalist — heavyweights like New Zealand, England and France have more overall depth and can overcome injuries and fatigue easier. "Its increasing the depth in certain positions, and making sure that when we have an injury we can replace her with a (quality player)," Ratier said. "Its identifying more talent and developing more players in the key positions. This is the key for the next three years." And those players will likely have to incur a substantial cost to participate in the next World Cup. Ratier estimated that Canadian players spent around $10,000 out of their own pockets to attend the World Cup and the preparation tournaments leading up to it. Ratier said its a big commitment "considering we are playing teams that are funded, like New Zealand, England and France. "When you see the French who are paid 120 euros a week when they are away, its not big but at least they can survive," he said. "For us, some of the girls had to resign from their job to go to this World Cup." Money doesnt appear to be an issue for Harvey, who said she doesnt think about the big contracts athletes of her calibre get in mainstream professional sports. "I do it for the love, I do it for the passion, and I do it because I love representing Canada," she said. But representing Canada is not always easy, especially in the three years that follow a World Cup. Ratier after Sundays final that Canada has trouble lining up quality opponents at the same time that France and England are playing in the prestigious Womens Six Nations Championship. There are also some lingering infrastructure issues compared to countries where rugby is considered a top-tier sport for women. Harvey said she was offered little guidance when she first got into rugby in high school, though she added the level of coaching in Canada is improving. "It was pretty scary because there were no coaches who knew how to play rugby so they would just put you on the field and tell you to play," she said. 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A rainy day saw the former champion Djokovic handle 14th-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) under the roof on the famed Centre Court. Gus Johnson Jersey . Bjoerndalen broke the record he shared with cross-country skiing great Bjoern Daehlie, also matching his fellow Norwegians record of eight gold medals. Bjoerndalen earlier won gold in Sochi in the mens sprint biathlon.TSN.ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League staff. Rankings were weighted evenly between separate lists made by TSN Radio host and soccer analyst Gareth Wheeler as well as TSN.cas soccer editors. 1. Arsenal (Last Week- 1) The Gunners hold on to top spot despite missing a glorious opportunity to deal Manchester Uniteds title hopes a serious blow. Arsenal remains alone at the top of the table, but are now just two points clear of second-place Liverpool and lost ground to the pack, with six teams now just five points behind or less. 2. Liverpool (LW- 5) The Reds outmuscled Fulham at Anfield thanks to another standout performance from Luis Suarez who has now scored five goals in three League matches since returning from suspension. 3. Manchester United (LW- 8) Dont look now but the Red Devils may be rounding into the title-holders many expected them to be this season. True, they managed just one goal at home against Arsenal, but were able to protect the lead against a hard-charging club in a way theyd failed to earlier on this season. 4. Southampton (LW- 7) The Saints might just be for real. Theyve lost just once this season and have avoided the slip-ups that have dogged supposedly superior teams early-on in the Premiership. No one expected them to be this good, but their record speaks for itself. The real test is coming, however, with road games at Anfield and Stamford Bridge beckoning in their next two fixtures. 5. Chelsea (LW- 3) That Eden Hazard penalty caused immediate ripples, but salvaged a point for the Blues at home against West Brom. The fact that it followed a loss to Newcastle in Week 10 and a very fortunate victory (thanks to Joe Hart!) against Manchester City has Chelsea trending very much in the wrong direction. 6. Tottenham (LW- 2) Spurs home loss to Newcastle probably wouldve made a bigger ripple had it not been for headline-grabbing results involving their fellow London clubs and the Manchester pair. Still, having salvaged just a single point from their last two matches and facing an Etihad date with City in Week 12, optimism isnt exactly running high at White Hart Lane. 7. Manchester City (LW- 4) Did City use up two weeks worth of goals by putting the boots to Norwich City in Week 10? Possibly. Was 19th-place Sunderland the better team in their Week 11 tilt? Most definitely. The loss dropped City from fifth to eighth in the table. 8. Everton (LW- 6) Everton joins Southampton as the only one-loss teams in the Premiership so far this season, but a team that hopes to contend for top-flight status has to do better than a scoreless draw to a relegation-bound team like Crystal Palace. 9. Newcastle United (LW- 10) How do you respond to being the first team to lose to Sunderland in 2013-14? You go out and you beat a pair of London clubs. If the Magpies can play more like the team that blanked Spurs and Chelsea, they could continue their table ascent. 10. West Bromwich Albion (LW- 11) Okay, so you probably got robbed of three points. Still, a draw at Stamford Bridge and sitting top-half of the table at this point of the season are probablly enough positives to salve the wounds inflicted in stoppage time.dddddddddddd 11. Aston Villa (LW- 14) Villa had to have worried their home fans into thinking their goalless drought was bound to continue, but they struck late in their home match against Cardiff City. Leandro Bacuna and Aleksander Kozak made good on a halfs-worth of excellent chances to get back to the score sheet and a well-earned three points. 12. Hull City (LW- 9) The bad news is that Hull suffered their most lopsided loss of the year at the hands of Southampton. Still, the loss came at the hands of a surprisingly strong side and marked the first time the Tigers surrendered upwards of two goals this season. 13. Swansea City (LW- 13) The Swans looked to have three points in hand until Charlie Adams stoppage-time penalty spoiled the fun. That said, Swansea has grabbed points when it can so far, losing only to the likes of Spurs, United, Saints and Arsenal – their Week 10 Welsh Derby loss aside. 14. Cardiff City (LW- 12) Cardiff had a good half before Villa broke their goalless frustration and took the points. Not the way they wanted to chase their Welsh Derby triumph and not a good omen with Manchester United laying in wait. 15. Norwich City (LW- 18) It could really only go up for Norwich in Week 11 as even a loss would have been an improvement if theyd surrendered less than seven goals. Luckily, the Canaries pulled out a win, dropping West Ham at home and ending a four-match winless drought. 16. Stoke City (LW- 16) Stoke managed a reverse of their Week 10 feat, by scoring in the very last minute to salvage a draw. Stoke isnt losing matches at the same clip as Fulham (with whom they sit level at 10 points), but theyd be in a much safer position relegation-wise if they could turn a couple of the draws theyve been earning into victories. 17. West Ham United (LW- 15) The Hammers extended their winless streak to four games with their 3-1 loss to Norwich City. While few will begrudge a loss to a team like Manchester City (see: Week 8), the team must do better against the teams directly ahead of them if they hope to stay up for next season. 18. Sunderland (LW- 19) Sunderland seems to have found a new gear at home, recording their second straight home victory (oh yeah, and their second victory, period) this week against Manchester City. A 1-0 victory may not turn a lot of heads for those that werent watching, but they rode a Phil Bardsley goal and an exceptional defensive performance by Wes Brown to take a step closer to the rest of the pack and a step up in our rankings. 19. Fulham (LW- 17) Fulham got plain out-classed by Liverpool in Week 11, losing to such an extent that one TSN analyst had them dead last in this weeks rankings. Fulham has just three wins this season and two of them have come against the only two teams below them in the table. 20. Crystal Palace (LW- 20) Palace got just their second result of the season, earning a goalless home draw against a strong Everton side. Still, they remain dead last in the table, having gone winless in eight matches and having scored just twice over that span. ' ' '
