Canada Defeat England for Second Match in a Row – 31-22

Canada have not lost to #1 ranked England in three matches now, a draw in England and two wins in Toronto and Ottawa. Canada are still ranked #3 despite defeating England in the last two matches, that’s because England had a huge lead in the rankings due to their unbeaten record and NZ keeps winning and maintaining their #2 spot. After this latest round of WXV matches England’s ranking points are 94.20, NZ 92.79, Canada 91.68, France 85.39, Ireland 77.76, Australia 77.18.

Canada scored 5 tries in the match two by Sophie de Goede and singles by Julia Omokhuale, DeLeaka Menin and Savannah Bauder. Even though Canada lost the battle of the scrum again they won in open play, attacking at multiple points from the fringes of the ruck to the sideline. They kept England guessing as to the point of attack and two tries illustrate that well, Sophie de Goede scored a key try by picking up the ball from the ruck and catching defenders looking elsewhere, Savannah Bauder scored a try that put the game out of reach and she was centimetres from the sideline as she beat defenders out wide.

Canada’s next matches will be in April 2027 as part of the Pacific Four series with NZ, Australia, USA. The match highlights from World Rugby and the match report from Rugby Canada are posted below.

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Canada Defeat England 24-21 in Toronto in Front of 18,000+ Fans

It was another boost for women’s rugby in Canada as Canada defeated #1 England, a team that hadn’t lost a match since 2022 when they lost the RWC final against NZ. It was a back and forth match with the England scrum dominating. The Canadian team relied on three tries from an energized backline to break the England defence. The other try was scored by Player of the Match, Daleaka Menin, the tighthead prop who put in a full shift in a scrum that was under pressure throughout the match. The addition of Alysha Corrigan on the outside proved to be a master stroke as her individual try was one of the highlights of the match. Shoshanah Seumanutafa was an important factor in the win, she had to come on in the first quarter of the match for Alex Tessier who had to leave for a head injury assessment. She kept the backline attack moving and scored the winning try at the 78′ mark. The next match is October 23rd in Ottawa. The extended highlights are linked below

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Kevin Rouet Names 31 Players for England Matches – Rori Wood, Caroline Crossley, Piper Logan Added

Coach Kevin Rouet has named 31 players for the two match series with England taking place in Toronto on October 16th and then Ottawa on October 23rd. There are a few new players coming in, Caroline Crossley as a loose forward, Rori Wood returns from injury and becomes another option at prop, Piper Logan in the backs gets her first chance at a XVs cap. Brittany Kassil who received a red card and suspension after the Scotland match is now back available to play. Some players missing from the Europe tour include Claire Gallagher, Maya Montiel, Cassandra Tuffnail, Sarah-Maude Lachance, Taylor McKnight.

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Canada Drop Match Against #4 France 21-5: Full Match Video

Was it the absence of Sophie de Goede or the let down after drawing with #1 England, either way Canada came out flat and were outplayed by France. The last time Canada were held to five points or less was in 2022, again by France when they blanked Canada 36-0 at the World Cup. They missed the leadership of Sophie de Goede, that was evident in subtle ways, when they had the momentum and France pinned in their 5 metres with a lineout, Canada didn’t put any jumpers up, no pressure at all. The forwards, usually Canada’s winning advantage, looked disconnected. The backline, never Canada’s strong point, struggled to make any impact.

Canada scored one try, by #8 Lizzie Gibson, who has been solid on this tour. Olivia Apps, who started at scrum half, then moved to the centres was the top back for Canada. Canada play at home next against England. Also congrats to former Canada coach, Francois Ratier, now France coach who had his team playing at top level. Full match video link below, plus World Rugby and Canadian Press reports.

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Canada Draw With England 26-26 – Ending England’s 39 Game Winning Streak

Canada’s last win against England came in 2016, they’ve lost to England the last 14 times and England has a 39 game winning streak against the world. Canada brought that to an end with a draw on Saturday. It was a back and forth match with the game tied at 19-19 at the half. England scored first in the second half, Canada tied it up with 20 minutes left in the match. The last quarter was scoreless and Canada decided to accept the draw by kicking the ball into touch while inside their 22. They’ll have two more cracks at England in Canada next month and they still have France to play on this tour. Below are the video highlights, the Rugby Canada report and the Canada player rankings by Planet Rugby.

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Canada Women Dominant in 64-26 Win Over Scotland: Next Up England

Canada’s formula is simple, put the best scrum half in the world on the field and match it with one of the top forward packs in the world and just be patient. Canada scored 10 tries, 5 were from the forward pack, 3 were from the scrum halves, 1 from the flyhalf, and 1 from the backline, the last try. When Canada can sort out their backline they’ll be #1 in the world. Olivia Apps is the top scrum half in the world in women’s rugby, and Justine Pelletier is not far behind.  Canada’s forwards are relentless on attack and defence, it’s a winning combination.

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Kevin Rouet Names 36 Players for Three Fixtures Versus Scotland, England and France in September

The Canadian women’s XVs team are headed to Europe for matches against Scotland, England and France. The first match against Scotland kicks off on September 12th. Canada’s previous match was against USA in April, a 50-12 win behind a dominant scrum. The starting XV from that match are again selected for the Europe tour plus some key players from the 7s team are returning Alysha Corrigan, Florence Symonds, Olivia Apps, Fancy Bermudez. There are a couple of 7s players possibly getting their first XVs cap, Charity Williams and Savannah Bauder. It’s a strong tour group as #3 Canada play #7 Scotland, #4 France and #1 England.

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Photos (20) with Commentary from Canada Women’s West Camp

The Canadian women’s XVs team held their west camp the weekend of May 16-17 in Langford. The intrasquad scrimmage took place May 17th prior to the men’s Island v Ontario match. We’ve posted 20 photos below with commentary. We missed some player IDs, feel free to add info via the comment section. One interesting point I noticed was that Christiaan Eisterhuizen was heavily involved in the coaching along with Kevin Rouet. Christiaan has been used in a multi-purpose coaching role with the Pacific Pride, men’s U20, and men’s 7s. With rumours of the Pride not returning will he take on some of the Langford based training of the women’s program?

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Rugby Canada Announce Regional ID/Development Camps for Women’s XVs – West Camp IntraSquad Match Prior to Island v Ontario Men’s XVs

Rugby Canada have announced East and West camps, the East camp took place last week, the West camp is taking place this coming weekend. The VIRU poster announced a “Canada Women’s Intersquad” prior to the Ontario v Island Tide match, these announcements lineup to expect a West camp intrasquad match on Sunday. The Rugby Canada media release didn’t mention which players are attending which camp but these are the players identified from BC and Alberta. We’ll try to get more details on which players are at the West camp and what the rosters will be for the intrasquad match

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