Canada’s national women’s rugby team’s golden World Cup dreams ended in a silver finish in 2014.

The result was disappointing, especially given the team’s explosive playing that led to their 18-16 win over host nation France in the semifinals.

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The squad, however, was bested by England in the finals 21-9.

“That was a hard loss to take at the time,” says Andrea Burk, a Capilano Rugby Club veteran and member of Canada’s women’s rugby team.

Burk, who plays inside centre, says the team initially took the loss hard.

“As players we felt disappointed, we felt like we had let people down,” she says.

But those feelings were soon quashed when they walked back onto the field at Stade Jean Bouin in Paris after the game.

“I looked up at the crowd and there was this huge block at Stade Jean Bouin Stadium of Canadians wearing red and white and waving the flag with tears and smiling,” she recounts.

That team was the first Canadian national team, men or women, to ever make an appearance at a Rugby World Cup final.

The result in the final against England wasn’t ideal, but it largely helped set the stage for the ever-increasing popularity of Rugby in Canada.

The team is hoping to keep that momentum going when it heads to Ireland to compete in this year’s Rugby World Cup from Aug. 9 to Aug. 26.

“We’re coming together full force going into another run here,” Burk explains.

Twelve teams are in this year’s tournament and Canada is expected to do well after their strong showing in 2014.

“We know that we had a special group and a desire to go and play our hearts out and that’s exactly what we did,” Burk says.

“I think that we believed that we could win and I don’t know how many other people in the world had the same belief -- but we made history.”

Burk says that for the past several months the team has been practising together and strengthening their bond in preparation.

“A lot of the players throughout Canada have taken it upon themselves to move out to Victoria to play in BC Rugby women’s premier league,” she says. “Women from Quebec and Ontario and New Brunswick have made their way out here to get the extra reps in during the East Coast offseason.”

Burk is a graduate of Carson Graham Secondary and a longtime Capilano Rugby Club member.

Besides playing rugby, Burk has been a vocal advocate for the sport for years.

She was part of the CBC team that covered rugby sevens in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

She says the broadcasting corporation was looking for a female voice to cover the colour commentary and she was thrilled to do it because Canada hadn’t had one historically.

“It was really a dream come true,” she says. “It was a wonderful opportunity to help bring rugby to Canada in a way that wasn’t me being an athlete on the field.”

While Burk says the 2014 World Cup ended up being about inspiring a nation, not winning a trophy, this year it could be about both.

“By no means has this been an easy three years -- or an easy six months -- and I think that’s part of why it’s really forged us as a team,” she says.

Team Canada is facing off against Hong Kong, who are making their World Cup debut, on Aug. 9.

Matches against Wales and New Zealand are scheduled in the days following.