The Tuttosi train just keeps rolling

About an hour away from the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, off Highway 2, Lorraine McKay has two 4×8 sheets of plywood screwed into the maple trees at the end of her driveway.

The boards are patriotically painted red and white, and they leave little to the imagination about where McKay’s loyalties lie.

One, which features the Rugby Canada logo smack-dab in the middle, boldly reads, “Proud supporter of Emily Tuttosi #2” and “Go Team Canada!” with a picture of McKay’s rugby-playing daughter zip-tied to it. The other, which has a logo that resembles the Rugby Women’s World Cup logo, reads, “Women’s ENG2025” and “Live on TSN Aug. 22-Sept. 27.”

The signs served as a daily reminder to the hamlet of Souris — home to approximately 2,000 — that one of their own was in the midst of a magical run with the Canadian women’s national rugby team at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.

McKay knew that her boards would draw attention, but she’s never been reserved when supporting any of her three children. As McKay put it, she’s loud and proud.

“I’d be the loud one, me and my husband. Even when we went to her university games, we were the people that have the bag with the cowbells and the horns and stuff in it,” McKay said. “We don’t care what people think when we’re cheering, that’s what my mother always taught me. You’re there to cheer, even if they’re down or they’re up in score.”

“You’re there to cheer, even if they’re down or they’re up in score.”

The homemade signs were a talking point around town last month, as Team Canada reached the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014 and captured silver. Tuttosi, who is the only Manitoban on the team, said she had to manage her time on social media wisely as pictures of her childhood home spread across the internet.

“The thing is, we do hear it and we do feel it,” Tuttosi said in a phone interview from Spain, where she is decompressing from the recent run.

“I would either see pictures on social media — some people I used to go to school with had their kids take photos with it — then it was in a couple of articles, so I saw it there,” she added. “There’s so many re-shares of what this national team is doing… I’m the only Manitoban on the team, and I just feel so proud to represent my community, but all the small communities that have some things in common.”

A palpable buzz grew around town and across the country as the Canadian women, who entered the tournament ranked No. 2 in the world, swept the group stage, breezed past Australia in the quarterfinals and dethroned defending champion New Zealand in the semis, setting up a cinematic date with No. 1 England in front of a sellout and record crowd of 82,000-plus at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

A watch party was held at Souris School for the final. It’s where Tuttosi first learned about rugby as an eight-year-old and blossomed into a standout for the Sabres by the time she reached her teenage years.

“People were paying attention, the word was getting out there,” said McKay, who watched the final at home with her husband. “Once the games started, there seemed to be more of a buzz.”

In England, the scene during that Saturday final was something Tuttosi won’t soon forget. The world was tuned in to watch a Canadian team that, by all accounts, was still trying to prove itself despite its world ranking — one that had to scrape together funds through crowdfunding to play in the first place.

“As a female rugby player, I feel like since I was in high school I’ve been telling people why they should watch rugby or why they should support women in sports, and I feel like I’ve had to do that in so many spaces that I’m in, because people don’t know or they don’t care,” Tuttosi said.

“Walking out in a packed Twickenham stadium of 82,000 people, I finally felt — for the first time in the tournament — we’re not asking people to come. People want to come. People understand why women’s rugby is a spectacle.”

Tuttosi, who plays the hooker position, was named to the World Rugby Women’s 15s Dream Team of the Year following her sensational performance in the tournament — an award she admittedly felt conflicted about because of the team-oriented nature of rugby.

It’s an honour that the 30-year-old graciously accepts, though, as it wasn’t long ago that she questioned her standing in professional rugby, never mind her place on the national team.

After high school, Tuttosi was recruited west, where she played for the University of Calgary Dinos and for the Calgary Hornets of Alberta Women’s Premier league. She went pro after graduating in 2018, moving to England to play for the Loughborough Lightning, where she spent one season. That year, she was also selected to the Canadian national team for the first time, but she was not brought back until 2021.

Tuttosi reached a crossroads in the sport during the COVID-19 pandemic, as her drought from a national team selection made her less attractive to club teams. Rather than concede, she decided to fight for her career.

Tuttosi set an alarm for 4 a.m. every day to train before heading to work, in hopes of getting back to the pro club and national level. In 2020, she joined the Exeter Chiefs of the Rugby Football Union and, the next year, she was selected to Team Canada again.

“I think all of those choices and the ways to get around things or to make training alongside whatever job and life stuff possible is something I’m proud of, because it’s not always easy, but it has always been worth it,” she said.

“It’s not always easy, but it has always been worth it.”

It made Team Canada’s run all the more sweet for the Manitoban, who said the championship final was the cherry on top of a tournament filled with unforgettable moments.

Tuttosi will enjoy the sun in Spain for the time being. In two weeks, she will return to the Chiefs to resume club play.

She says the grind never stops.

“It is really fun, but — it sounds cliché — I do feel like rugby is my ‘why,’” Tuttosi said.

“I’m able to connect to people back home and across Canada, and now I’m coaching in England — just some community sides — but I feel like I’m somebody who has a very charismatic energy and being a part of teams, whether that’s in a coaching or playing capacity, just gives me so much joy and, obviously, challenge at times.

“I think for right now in my life, it’s just what I can do to be the best me.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam