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Latest News
Andy Vilk, head coach of Italy men's sevens
4 min read

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Italy men’s sevens team seeks return to the big stage

The European men's qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 is on the horizon with the prize of four tickets to Cape Town, South Africa at stake in July.

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Thu 19 May, 2022
4 min read
HSBC Canada Women's Sevens 2022
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Black Ferns Sevens renew riveting rivalry with Australia on HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Australia wrapped up the 2022 Series title in Langford, but the Black Ferns Sevens left Canada with plenty to celebrate as they begin a busy period.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 3 May, 2022
4 min read
Madagascar Women's Sevens
3 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: Madagascar latest team to book ticket to Cape Town

Following another intense weekend of qualifying action we now know the identity of 12 women's and 20 men's teams who will compete at RWC Sevens 2022.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Mon 2 May, 2022
3 min read
HSBC Spain Sevens Seville 2022 - Women's
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe keen to drive Ireland onto Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

We spoke to the prolific Ireland star about backing up the team’s success in Seville and plotting their path to Cape Town in September.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 26 April, 2022
4 min read
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day Two
5 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Everything you need to know about Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Your guide to RWC Sevens 2022, which will take place in Cape Town between 9-11 September this year.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Fri 8 April, 2022
5 min read
2018 Highlights
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
08:29 mins

Highlights: New Zealand win big in San Francisco

New Zealand retained their Rugby World Cup Sevens title in San Francisco
Mon 23 July, 2018
08:29 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
07:03 mins

Highlights: New Zealand women's win Rugby World Cup Sevens

Check out all the top action as New Zealand win The Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco
Sun 22 July, 2018
07:03 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day Two
06:30 mins

HIGHLIGHTS: Men's semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day two

Men's semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day two of action at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 #RWC7s
Sun 22 July, 2018
06:30 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day One
06:51 mins

Highlights: Men's quarter-finals decided

Men's quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup Sevens decided after incredible first day at AT&T Park
Sat 21 July, 2018
06:51 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
06:26 mins

Highlights: Women's semi-finals confirmed at Rugby World Cup Sevens

Championship semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day one of action
Sat 21 July, 2018
06:26 mins
Women in Rugby
Tuesday 26 October, 2021
4 min read

Meaghan Howat striving to give rugby players in Canada a positive experience

We caught up with the World Rugby Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship recipient to talk about her life in the game, motherhood and her hopes for the future.
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When a torn ACL effectively ended Meaghan Howat’s hopes of representing Canada at Rugby World Cup 2010, she reasoned that working in sport was the next best thing to playing it.

Howat had excelled at both rugby and hockey during her time as a student at the University of Guelph, being named female athlete of the year in 2007.

She went on to represent Canada in 15s, lining up at fly-half in a 25-3 defeat of Wales in Taff’s Well in November, 2007. But following her knee injury, Howat came to the agonising conclusion that she was unlikely to realise her ambition of playing at Rugby World Cup 2010 in England.

Instead, she returned to her studies and enrolled at the University of Notre Dame, where in 2011 she achieved her masters of business administration, with concentrations in both finance and marketing.

The decision paid off the following year when Rugby Canada appointed Howat as the manager of its national women’s programme. Although aged only 28, she had reservations about taking on such a role.

“I connected with a few people I knew from the organisation and then that kind of just worked out so well,” Howat told World Rugby.

🇨🇦 Congratulations to former @RugbyCanada international & current Board Member Meaghan Howat on being awarded a @WorldRugby Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship for @RugbyAmericasN in 2021! #WomenInRugby #ChoosetoChallenge #RANRugby #IWD2021 pic.twitter.com/iyayrsywWw

— RugbyAmericasNorth (@RugbyAmericasN) March 8, 2021

“I remember telling Mike Chu at the time, I'm not sure this role is really for me… because you're so close to the Olympics, I know how important this role is.

“And, he said: 'Come give it a try and we'll work with you'. And, honestly, after my first tour to Dubai, I really loved the role. I loved working with the athletes.”

“Honoured and excited”

Howat jokes that “the rest is history, I suppose” and she’s right. Having worked briefly in finance following graduation, she knew that this was where she wanted to be.

“Once I started with Rugby Canada, there was no turning back,” Howat said.

Following four years in the role, which culminated with a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, she was promoted to head up Rugby Canada’s sevens operations, overseeing both the men’s and women’s programmes.

Howat left Rugby Canada at the end of 2018. “I felt like I had done a lot and I wanted to have more opportunity to grow,” she said.

“It was sad. I loved the athletes that I worked with, I enjoyed working with my staff.”

Howat returned to the University of Guelph to become a manager of athlete services, and until May retained a place on the Rugby Canada board as an athlete representative.

It is her long-term goal to become Rugby Canada CEO and that ambition has ensured she has continued to scout out opportunities for professional development.

That is why she began a PhD at Guelph in 2020, and it is also the driving factor behind her decision to apply for the World Rugby Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship.

Howat was accepted onto the programme at the second attempt in March and hasn’t let the small matter of being heavily pregnant at the time get in the way of her making the most of it.

“[I was] very honoured and excited,” she said.

“Obviously, my long-term goal is to continue to move up in Rugby Canada or other rugby jobs, so to be able to have that scholarship and know that Katie [Sadleir] felt that I was deserving of it really was a great feeling.”

Becoming a mum

Howat’s first child, son Bowen, arrived on 21 April, meaning that she had to take a three-month break following the first call with her mentor Robbie McRobbie, to concentrate on being a mum.

She has since earmarked gaps in her professional expertise that she intends to focus on filling and faces an unenviable schedule over the next few months as she attempts to juggle the scholarship with motherhood, her PhD course and a new role at the Canadian Rugby Players’ Association.

“It’s been great. I think, in a lot of ways I had so much preparation for the baby,” Howat said.

“I say Rugby Canada helped prepare me because it was such a hard-working environment all the time and lots of travel, so you adapt to not a lot of sleep when you do time changes.

“So, it's honestly been great. I think a really good [piece of] advice I had, which was from Annabel [Kehoe], another recipient this year, who said, just give yourself three months to realise that you won't be able to do anything.”

Howat added: “It’s just pacing yourself. I've learnt you can't really have more than one call a day at this point, especially if you're home alone.”

One of the major factors in Howat’s decision to apply for the scholarship in the first place was the opportunity to learn from a network of female leaders around the world.

“It’s extremely important. I think that one of the greatest parts of the scholarship is learning. Every rugby union has its own unique challenges and the women involved within them, you can learn so much from them,” she explained.

“I think every time you hear about how they've had a challenge, how they’ve overcome it, what their process was, it helps each of us manage them when we face them.

“[Regardless of] whether obviously you approach it very differently, depending on how you are, what your union situation is, but just learning and sharing from all of them.

“And I think there’s also the supportive piece, so whenever there is a victory for women, whether they made it onto their board or, you know, whether it would be one day World Rugby Council, those types of things, it's so celebratory and it's great to see the women supporting other women.”

Howat has big ambitions for her own career, but ultimately she hopes to be able to use the skills she is learning and the network she is building to help players in Canada get the most out of their time on the pitch.

“I hope to be able to really make our organisation into something that when athletes leave, they largely have had a really positive experience,” she said.

“Whether that's because we've created much more mental health support, whether we've created better high-performance structure around our athletes. That's my number one goal.”

READ MORE: Tanya Scholtz on potential Springbok Women debut: “I hope my dad is looking down super happy and proud” >>

Trending News Show all
HSBC France Sevens 2022 Men's
6 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series - Toulouse

Men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series favourites suffer shock defeats on opening day in Toulouse as women’s champions Australia continue fine form

South Africa, Australia and Argentina were all beaten on the opening day of the HSBC France Sevens men’s event, while New Zealand and Australia caught the eye with some big wins in the women’s competition

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series - Toulouse

Fri 20 May, 2022
6 min read
Rikki Swannell becomes first females to commentate on men's series
5 min read

Feature

Behind the microphone: Groundbreaker Rikki Swannell

World Rugby talks to the New Zealander about becoming the first female lead commentator on the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and her life in sports broadcasting.

Feature

Fri 20 May, 2022
5 min read
Andy Vilk, head coach of Italy men's sevens
4 min read

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Italy men’s sevens team seeks return to the big stage

The European men's qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 is on the horizon with the prize of four tickets to Cape Town, South Africa at stake in July.

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Thu 19 May, 2022
4 min read
Serevi Coaching Roadshow - HSBC Event
3 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Fiji are in Toulouse to win: “There is still room for improvement,” says Gollings

Gold and silver medals in their last two HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series outings have Fiji feeling good ahead of French tournament

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Thu 19 May, 2022
3 min read
HSBC France Sevens 2022
4 min read

Rugby Sevens

Captains ready for lift off at HSBC France Sevens

Toulouse welcomes a full line-up of 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams for the first time in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series on 20-22 May

Rugby Sevens

Wed 18 May, 2022
4 min read
2018 Commonwealth Games women's final
3 min read

Commonwealth Games

All the build-up to rugby sevens at the Commonwealth Games 2022

Now that the line-ups are complete in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, we take a look at who has won gold in the past and the sides competing to add their names to the roll call of honour in July.

Commonwealth Games

Wed 11 May, 2022
3 min read
Madagascar qualify for rugby world cup sevens
4 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Discipline and hard work at the heart of Madagascar's success on the road to Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

The Madagascar women's sevens team has achieved their historic dream of qualifying for a Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament for the first time. At the heart of this achievement lies a lot of hard work, determination and discipline.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Wed 11 May, 2022
4 min read
HSBC Canada Women's Sevens 2022
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Seven women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series players to watch in Toulouse

Following an exciting weekend in Langford we look at seven women’s stars who could light up Toulouse between 20-22 May.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Thu 5 May, 2022
4 min read
HSBC Canada Women's Sevens 2022
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Black Ferns Sevens renew riveting rivalry with Australia on HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Australia wrapped up the 2022 Series title in Langford, but the Black Ferns Sevens left Canada with plenty to celebrate as they begin a busy period.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 3 May, 2022
4 min read
Madagascar Women's Sevens
3 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: Madagascar latest team to book ticket to Cape Town

Following another intense weekend of qualifying action we now know the identity of 12 women's and 20 men's teams who will compete at RWC Sevens 2022.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Mon 2 May, 2022
3 min read
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