TONIGHT (Australian time), international tournament Aussie Rules ramps up with the inaugural Transatlantic Cup getting underway.

Men’s and women’s teams from six countries – Canada, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Ireland and the USA – have gathered in Toronto, Canada for this 10 day tournament.

From the women’s side of the draw, it is hard to gauge who may go into this tournament as a favourite because the last inter continential international tournament was so long ago.

The International Cup was last run in 2017, with the pandemic thwarting the running of the 2020 tournament several times. However, that 2017 edition was won by Ireland, so the Banshees will be hoping that their first tournament back can see some history repeat itself. They are bringing several members of that 2017 squad with them to Toronto, including Marie Keating and Sarah O’Donovan. Most of the Irish squad do have national team experience having competed at the European Championships in recent years, so will be a team to watch.

Another side with recent international success is Canada, who defeated their southern neighbours the USA Freedom in the 49th Parallel Cup just last year. The Northern Lights also have a number of players who played in the 2017 International Cup, but also a couple of players with state league experience in Australia.

Nicole Robertson playing with the Southern Saints in the VFLW back in 2021, while Haley Jones is currently playing with Wilston Grange up in Queensland.

Speaking of the Americans, they too have a number of players with high level experience in Australia.

The most famous of those is Danielle Marshall, with the former AFLW Bomber and Bulldog set to make her national team debut this tournament.

Jessica Blecher is another with Australian state league experience, with the Iron Maidens’ tall having played with both Nightcliff in the Northern Territory and Collingwood in the VFLW while in Australia. April Munn also played in both the NTFLW (for Southern Districts) and in the VFLW (for Essendon), while Ameilia Kahr also spent some time in the NTFLW, playing with St Mary’s.

Great Britain is bringing much of England, Scotland and Wales’ squads from the last few Euro Cups,  and would love nothing more than to finally get one over their neighbours Ireland, who have dominated that competition in recent years. Sophie Bennett brings in some Australian state league experience from her time with the UTS Bats in Sydney, while the Swans will be looking to Hannah Layton to keep her goal kicking run going.

France do not come into this tournament with much international experience, with most of their squad set to make their national team debut at this tournament. Captained by Clotilde Decaux, they will be looking to the more experienced heads in the likes of Naima Ait El Mouden to help guide the Gauloises through the tournament.

The least experienced of the six countries at this tournament is Colombia. Led by Yuri Gualteros, no one in the Colombia squad has any national team experience, so things may be tough for the Jaguares.

To view the men’s tournament squads, click here.

To view the women’s tournament squads, click here.

To view the tournament fixtures, click here.

To access the live streaming for the tournament, click here.