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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. "Now its getting better. Coaches are more informed and teach you more." Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys .K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. Dallas Goedert Jersey . Carey Price made 27 saves for Montreal (30-21-6) for his fourth shutout of the year and second in four games. David Desharnais added an empty netter for the Canadiens. Reto Berra stopped 25 shots for Calgary (21-28-7). http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Michael-Bennett-Jersey/ .A. Happ is coming off his first start of the year, a win at Philadelphia Monday. The former Phillie allowed three hits in five scoreless frames of a 3-0 triumph. Josh Sweat Jersey . - Frankie (The Answer) Edgar dominated B. Mike Wallace Eagles Jersey . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum.NEW YORK -- Ian Desmond wants more. Desmond homered off a backup catcher, Gio Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings and the Washington Nationals roughed up rookie Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets 13-2 Sunday for a much-needed road-series win. "Its stride in a right direction," Desmond said. "Obviously I think were capable of more than this. Not being greedy or anything, but we have a good offence and we feel like we can score runs." Adam LaRoche homered and Desmond and Denard Span had RBI doubles in a four-run second to spoil Wheelers home debut, which became such a laugher that catcher Anthony Recker pitched the ninth inning. Jayson Werth also homered against the Mets touted prospect as Washington finally gave Gonzalez (5-3) some run support -- and then some. Every Nationals position player had at least one hit and an RBI in setting a season-high for runs. Washington improved to 4-8-2 in road series by taking two of three from the Mets. With the expected Monday return of star slugger Bryce Harper, who has been out since late May with left knee bursitis, the Nationals are optimistic of making a run in the NL East despite finishing the first half a disappointing 41-40. "Anytime you can add a guy like that to your lineup, offensively and defensively, youre in good shape," catcher Kurt Suzuki said. Suzuki hit a two-run homer and Anthony Rendon had a two-run double when Washington batted around in a six-run eighth. Suzuki also had an RBI single in the second against Wheeler (1-1). A day that began with such promise for Mets fans ended as Recker smiled when he was introduced while warming up to pitch the ninth. Desmond hit a two-run homer off the facade of the restaurant in left field, giving him 28 RBIs in June and a Nationals record for any month. "I wanted to throw strikes and stay within myself and not get hurt," said Recker, who reached 88 mph on the stadium radar. Gonzalez (5-3) won for only the third time in 11 outings since May 5, even though he has given up two earned runs or fewer in 10 of those games. "Nobody likes to waste good pitching like we have for the first half of the season," Ryan Zimmerman said. After giving up a one-out single to Daniel Murphy and walking David Wright in the first, Gonzalez retired 17 of 18 around Wrights fourth-inning double before pinch-hitter Zack Lutz walked to open the seventh. Josh Satin followed with a single, and pitching coach Steve McCatty took a slow walk to the mound. Gonzalez retired the next three batters and finished with seven strikeouts and two walks. Meets starters Matt Harvey and Dillon Gee dominated the Nationals in the first two games of the series, and many of the 33,366 fans -- the second-highest attendance this season at Citi Field after opening day -- were eager to see Wheeler do the same in his third big league start.dddddddddddd The crowd included his parents and two brothers. Wheeler got the biggest cheer from fans when lineups were announced and then another roar after striking out two in the first with a fastball that ranged from 94-98 mph. But he didnt make it through five innings. LaRoche quieted the crowd in the second with a drive off the facing of the second deck in right field on the first pitch. Unsettled, Wheeler walked Werth on four pitches and allowed an RBI double to Desmond. "He looked pretty good," LaRoche said. "Got to work on that control a bit. Hes got a live arm, hes got some really good potential." Desmond laid off two sliders before sending a fastball into the right-centre gap. One long fly out later, Suzuki singled through a drawn-in infield for a 3-0 lead. After Gonzalez struck out, Span doubled to left-centre on a 93 mph fastball for the innings final run. Wheeler slowly walked off the mound to near silence. When Wheeler sat in the dugout, manager Terry Collins stopped by for a moment and the 23-year-old received pats of encouragement from pitching coach Dan Warthen and Harvey. Werth homered to left-centre on another fastball with two outs in the third and Wheeler was chased after walking LaRoche with two outs in the fifth, putting runners on first and third. "I left a few balls up and Im learning pretty fast that you cant get away with mistakes," Wheeler said. "Ive always struggled with fastball command. My command has to improve." The sixth overall pick by San Francisco Giants in the 2009 amateur draft, Wheeler has had mixed results in the majors. He pitched six scoreless innings in his debut in Atlanta but gave up four runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings against the Chicago White Sox, an outing in which Collins said Wheeler was tipping his pitches. This time Wheeler yielded five runs and six hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked two. John Buck hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Mets. NOTES: The Mets finished June 11-15, Washington was 13-13. ... Harper batted .364 (4 for 11) with a double, triple and homer in four rehab games. ... Nationals RHP Dan Haren (shoulder inflammation) had a bullpen session for first time since going on DL last week. He said he thinks he will pitch a sim game Wednesday. 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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. "Now its getting better. Coaches are more informed and teach you more." Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys .K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. Dallas Goedert Jersey . Carey Price made 27 saves for Montreal (30-21-6) for his fourth shutout of the year and second in four games. David Desharnais added an empty netter for the Canadiens. Reto Berra stopped 25 shots for Calgary (21-28-7). http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Michael-Bennett-Jersey/ .A. Happ is coming off his first start of the year, a win at Philadelphia Monday. The former Phillie allowed three hits in five scoreless frames of a 3-0 triumph. Josh Sweat Jersey . - Frankie (The Answer) Edgar dominated B. Mike Wallace Eagles Jersey . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum.NEW YORK -- Ian Desmond wants more. Desmond homered off a backup catcher, Gio Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings and the Washington Nationals roughed up rookie Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets 13-2 Sunday for a much-needed road-series win. "Its stride in a right direction," Desmond said. "Obviously I think were capable of more than this. Not being greedy or anything, but we have a good offence and we feel like we can score runs." Adam LaRoche homered and Desmond and Denard Span had RBI doubles in a four-run second to spoil Wheelers home debut, which became such a laugher that catcher Anthony Recker pitched the ninth inning. Jayson Werth also homered against the Mets touted prospect as Washington finally gave Gonzalez (5-3) some run support -- and then some. Every Nationals position player had at least one hit and an RBI in setting a season-high for runs. Washington improved to 4-8-2 in road series by taking two of three from the Mets. With the expected Monday return of star slugger Bryce Harper, who has been out since late May with left knee bursitis, the Nationals are optimistic of making a run in the NL East despite finishing the first half a disappointing 41-40. "Anytime you can add a guy like that to your lineup, offensively and defensively, youre in good shape," catcher Kurt Suzuki said. Suzuki hit a two-run homer and Anthony Rendon had a two-run double when Washington batted around in a six-run eighth. Suzuki also had an RBI single in the second against Wheeler (1-1). A day that began with such promise for Mets fans ended as Recker smiled when he was introduced while warming up to pitch the ninth. Desmond hit a two-run homer off the facade of the restaurant in left field, giving him 28 RBIs in June and a Nationals record for any month. "I wanted to throw strikes and stay within myself and not get hurt," said Recker, who reached 88 mph on the stadium radar. Gonzalez (5-3) won for only the third time in 11 outings since May 5, even though he has given up two earned runs or fewer in 10 of those games. "Nobody likes to waste good pitching like we have for the first half of the season," Ryan Zimmerman said. After giving up a one-out single to Daniel Murphy and walking David Wright in the first, Gonzalez retired 17 of 18 around Wrights fourth-inning double before pinch-hitter Zack Lutz walked to open the seventh. Josh Satin followed with a single, and pitching coach Steve McCatty took a slow walk to the mound. Gonzalez retired the next three batters and finished with seven strikeouts and two walks. Meets starters Matt Harvey and Dillon Gee dominated the Nationals in the first two games of the series, and many of the 33,366 fans -- the second-highest attendance this season at Citi Field after opening day -- were eager to see Wheeler do the same in his third big league start.dddddddddddd The crowd included his parents and two brothers. Wheeler got the biggest cheer from fans when lineups were announced and then another roar after striking out two in the first with a fastball that ranged from 94-98 mph. But he didnt make it through five innings. LaRoche quieted the crowd in the second with a drive off the facing of the second deck in right field on the first pitch. Unsettled, Wheeler walked Werth on four pitches and allowed an RBI double to Desmond. "He looked pretty good," LaRoche said. "Got to work on that control a bit. Hes got a live arm, hes got some really good potential." Desmond laid off two sliders before sending a fastball into the right-centre gap. One long fly out later, Suzuki singled through a drawn-in infield for a 3-0 lead. After Gonzalez struck out, Span doubled to left-centre on a 93 mph fastball for the innings final run. Wheeler slowly walked off the mound to near silence. When Wheeler sat in the dugout, manager Terry Collins stopped by for a moment and the 23-year-old received pats of encouragement from pitching coach Dan Warthen and Harvey. Werth homered to left-centre on another fastball with two outs in the third and Wheeler was chased after walking LaRoche with two outs in the fifth, putting runners on first and third. "I left a few balls up and Im learning pretty fast that you cant get away with mistakes," Wheeler said. "Ive always struggled with fastball command. My command has to improve." The sixth overall pick by San Francisco Giants in the 2009 amateur draft, Wheeler has had mixed results in the majors. He pitched six scoreless innings in his debut in Atlanta but gave up four runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings against the Chicago White Sox, an outing in which Collins said Wheeler was tipping his pitches. This time Wheeler yielded five runs and six hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked two. John Buck hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Mets. NOTES: The Mets finished June 11-15, Washington was 13-13. ... Harper batted .364 (4 for 11) with a double, triple and homer in four rehab games. ... Nationals RHP Dan Haren (shoulder inflammation) had a bullpen session for first time since going on DL last week. He said he thinks he will pitch a sim game Wednesday. 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