BRISTOL, England — Canada are no longer flying under the radar. Just seconds before they started their dismantling of New Zealand on a sweaty evening in Bristol, the Canada coach Kévin Rouet finished off his pre-match thought by saying: “We’re Canada, nobody knows about us, and we’re happy with that!”
Well, the four teams they demolished leading to the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup semifinal knew full well of Canada’s strengths. Now, New Zealand do too after this record-tumbling 34-19 defeat.
Not that the Kiwis needed reminding: Canada are second in the world for a reason. They’re now three matches unbeaten against New Zealand. But then again, these are the Black Ferns we’re talking about, the team who have won six of the last seven World Cups. Their record is ridiculous, the type of big tournament mentality that can already put 14 points on the board before they even get into position for their haka. But not against Canada, including their modern great Sophie de Goede, and their mesmeric puppeteer scrum-half Justine Pelletier.
Instead, it was the Kiwis who were left picking up the pieces of this defeat: It was the Kiwis’ biggest margin of defeat in a World Cup match, the most points they’ve conceded in the tournament and the five tries the Canadians scored were the joint-most number they’ve shipped.
And all this after Canada had to part-crowdfund their way to the World Cup. Their campaign “Mission: Win Rugby World Cup 2025” raised near CAN$1M (£560,000) and that’s helped give them the platform to shine.
“We’ve defied the odds over and over again and that has a way of bringing you together, propelling you forward and fostering that knowledge in the group that we can overcome anything,” De Goede said.
Judging who was favourite for this semifinal depended on who you spoke to and the colour of their shirt. Both teams fancied the underdog tag in a tournament dominated by England talk.
Supporters at Ashton Gate were split on who they thought would win. But then came the opening 10 minutes where Canada bewitched New Zealand, playing the most incredible multi-faceted rugby. They used the sky, they dominated the breakdown with their blink-and-you-miss-it ruck speed. Then they punched holes through sheer willpower, or Pelletier put her teammates into space with her lightning-quick hands, or dummied her way over for the opener.
1:17
Canada stun New Zealand to reach Rugby World Cup final
Canada reach just their second Women’s Rugby World Cup final after dethroning New Zealand with a 34-19 win at Ashton Gate.
New Zealand simply couldn’t live with Canada. Just when you thought New Zealand would get a foothold, after 10 minutes, Taylor Perry flung a pinpoint cut-out pass to Asia Hogan-Rochester and she darted over. The Kiwis were caught grasping thin west country air as Canada broke through them and their four-try haul at the break — including De Goede outsprinting New Zealand’s scrambled defence — was no fluke.
It’s impossible not to join the hype around De Goede. She can simply do it all: the goal-kicking lock, who’s a menace at the breakdown, rapid in attack and has great hands to boot. In return, she’s outstanding in defence. She’s essentially a computer-generated regen, blending some of the great forwards we’ve seen in the game.
She was sublime in the second half as Canada scored their fifth try through the brilliant Tessier and then held off a Kiwi fightback. But this was more than just a De Goede show, and that’s what should concern the victor of England’s match with France on Saturday. If that goes to script, then it’ll be John Mitchell’s Red Roses who’ll be trying to find a way to break the Canadian resolve at Twickenham next Saturday.
“I felt it already one and a half years ago that we could do something and I am happy we are one game away from achieving what we want,” Rouet said.
“I said to the girls to stop crying because we have a job to do in eight days. That’s the mindset.”
But in a tournament where it felt at times like it was a one-horse race for the title, Canada sat quietly and watched the pressure build around the hosts. “I think that is something that fuels our fire,” Canada wing Alysha Corrigan said. “It is something that isn’t new for us, we are usually seen as that underdog and not always getting that recognition we think we deserve.”
Consider this recognition of what those in the game knew all along: Canada have always been genuine contenders for this title.
The eventual 34-19 scoreline was a fair margin of victory. But amid all the praise of their attacking game, it would be remiss not to mention Canada’s defensive strengths. This is a New Zealand team who stuck 40 on Ireland. They have the once-in-a-generation player Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and the best young winger on the planet in Braxton Sorensen-McGee.
Sorensen-McGee was the more lively of the two and got a try for her efforts, but compared to her destruction of Ireland, Canada got a good hold of her. But how they missed injured openside Jorja Miller.
Without her, they never really got a handle on the breakdown, and all the while, Canada stood tall and resolute when faced with a swarm of black shirts desperately trying to claw their way back into the semifinal. Even when New Zealand hinted at mounting a monumental fightback and scored two unanswered tries to reduce the deficit to 12 points, Canada found a way to turn the tide back in their favour.
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“I was pretty proud of the girls for the effort,” captain Tessier said. “It was high intensity. That was our game plan, to put them under pressure. We did a good job on that and we managed to turn the ball over.”
Canada now have an extra day’s rest before next Saturday’s final. They can sit back and watch England and France flog things out in what is likely to be awful conditions. They can rest, content in another job well done. But they are no longer living in self-proclaimed anonymity.
Let’s face it: Canada never really were underdogs at this World Cup, they were always in the mix, and they showed why on Friday evening. “I guess we’ve graduated from dark horse to underdog,” De Goede said. “We’ll see what the next one is in that final.”
