Defending New York Sevens Women's Premier champion Equipe Quebec is heading back to the Big Apple this weekend to show that it knows a little bit about rugby up north.

An elite select side out of Quebec, EQ is exactly the type of team you can expect to see at the New York Sevens — skilled, dedicated, and something opponents don't see very often. The Equipe Quebec's goal is to create elite players who go on to national and Olympic glory, and you can see they're doing the job.

Equipe Quebec also fields a girls U18 team, and while last year that group fell short to Eastern Ontario, the expectations remain high for Saturday's tournament at the Randall's Island Fields.

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"Our performance goal is to reach the final in both the U18 High School elite division as well as the women's elite division," said Lisa-Anne Lessard, the elite program development coordinator for Rugby Quebec. "We each want to grow as teams and continue to foster Rugby Quebec’s distinguished reputation."

Why, then, travel all the way to New York on (American) Thanksgiving weekend to do this? Because the New York Sevens is special.

"We love the NY7s invitational tournament because it offers us a stage to show our skills," Lessard said. "The tournament is well structured and organized, and this allows us to perform. We look forward to spending time as a team, growing together while playing the sport we love! It is also a great platform to reunite with some of our old teammates and friends."

Equipe Quebec returns with a core group that has been playing together for three or four years. The familiarity has created a team cohesion that will make the women's team, especially, a favorite.