Canada and the USA will take their first steps towards qualification for the 2027 World Cup in Calgary on Friday night. Both teams missed out in 2023 – a first ever for the competition – and will be desperate to get back to the big show. The match doubles as the opener for the Pacific Nations Nations Cup, with Samoa and Tonga also in the race to claim three tickets to Australia 2027.
Current World Ranking: 25 (57.75 points)
2025-07-18 – Canada 23, Spain 24 (Edmonton)
2025-07-12 – Canada 18, Belgium 25 (Edmonton)
2024-11-16 – Romania 35, Canada 27 (Bucharest)
2024-11-09 – Canada 14, Chile 44 (Bucharest)
2024-09-14 – Tonga 30, Canada 17 (Tokyo)
Current World Ranking: 16 (68.45 points)
2025-07-19 – USA 5, England 40 (Washington DC)
2025-07-12 – USA 20, Spain 31 (Charlotte)
2025-07-05 – USA 36, Belgium 17 (Charlotte)
2024-11-23 – Spain 23, USA 26 (Madrid)
2024-11-16 – Tonga 17, USA 36 (Chambéry)
 |
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Dewald Kotze | Andrew Quattrin |
| 8 | Tyler Ardron | Sion Parry |
| 12 | Ben LeSage | Spencer Jones |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Jack Iscaro | Ezekiel Lindenmuth |
| 2 | Kapeli Pifeleti | Kaleb Geiger |
| 3 | Tonga Kofe | Pono Davis |
| 5 | Jason Damm | Tevita Naqali |
| 8 | Makeen Alikhan | Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz |
| 9 | JP Smith | Ruben de Haas |
| 10 | AJ MacGinty | Chris Hilsenbeck |
| 11 | Lauina Futi | Toby Fricker |
| 12 | Tavite Lopeti | Tom Pittman |
- where Canada were once the dominant side between the two, in recent years it’s been the Eagles who have taken control of the head-to-head with 8 wins in the last 9 meetings
- after a mixed showing in the July tests, Scott Lawrence has made several changes to his run-on side though the match day 23 is broadly similar
- regular Eagles starters Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz and Ruben de Haas miss out with injury while Toby Fricker is unavailable… the good news is the return of England-based pros Kapeli Pifeleti and AJ MacGinty, while Jason Damm and Tavite Lopeti are available for selection
- Makeen Alikhan is handed his first test start at No8, a position he played only sparingly for Anthem this season… similarly Erich Storti is retained at fullback despite playing mostly at outside center during the 2025 Major League Rugby season
- Seattle star JP Smith, a former South Africa u20 select, gets his first test start of the year in place of de Haas with Old Glory’s Ethan McVeigh providing cover
- new Montauban signing Nafi Ma’afu was named in the wider Eagles squad ahead of the PNC but is currently training with the Top 14 club in France… Provence lock Renger van Eerten is another absentee seemingly unavailable with club commitments
- Steve Meehan’s third match in charge of Canada features one of the country’s strongest lineups since the 2019 World Cup… Agen lock Evan Olmstead bolsters the engine room while former captain Tyler Ardron is set to play his first test since 2021, a major boost to the team’s fortunes
- Stephen Webb is the only uncapped player named in either lineup… the 19-year-old scrumhalf was named in the 23 to face Spain but did not see the field… Webb is the son of the late Bill Webb, the majority owner and co-founder of the now-defunct Toronto Arrows
- Mason Flesch and Ben LeSage return after missing out on the July tests with injury, but the former settles for a spot on the bench while LeSage plays at No12 instead of his preferred No13 shirt
- first choice hooker Andrew Quattrin is unavailable while he trains with Pro D2 side Valence Romans, handing a first test start to Seattle rake Dewald Kotze
- other notable absentees for Canada include France-based lock Matt Beukeboom, Currie Cup scrumhalf Ross Braude, and MLR standouts Andrew Coe and Brock Webster
Steve Meehan (Head Coach)
“The effort and understanding the team has shown in training has been very good. Competition for starting XV and reserves was high and this demonstrates the depth we’re building. It’s now time to execute what we’ve practiced. This begins on Friday evening in the Pacific Nations Cup with a strong performance against the USA.”
Scott Lawrence (Head Coach)
“Going into this assembly our priorities were to create the right environment for the players to express themselves. We’ve concentrated on being clear about the simple things and then let the players fill in the gaps, let them trust their skill sets.”
While current world rankings and recent results are heavily skewed in the USA’s direction, this promises to be a very close contest. The Eagles weren’t in great form during July while Canada showed signs of improvement against Spain with a similar lineup. Ardron and LeSage are strong additions to the Canadian effort, and the USA’s lineout is likely to be under severe pressure. That said the Eagles should have the edge in the scrum while MacGinty is a class apart at No10. USA are slight favorites in Calgary.
CANADA
1 Cali Martinez, 2 Dewald Kotze, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Piers von Dadelszen, 5 Evan Olmstead, 6 Matthew Oworu, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Tyler Ardron, 9 Jason Higgins, 10 Cooper Coats, 11 Josiah Morra, 12 Ben LeSage, 13 Noah Flesch, 14 Isaac Olson, 15 Peter Nelson
Replacements: 16 Jesse Mackail, 17 Emerson Prior, 18 Kyle Steeves, 19 Mason Flesch, 20 Sion Parry, 21 Stephen Webb, 22 Spencer Jones, 23 Nic Benn
USA
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 3 Tonga Kofe, 4 Marno Redelinguys, 5 Jason Damm, 6 Benjamín Bonasso (capt.), 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Makeen Alikhan, 9 JP Smith, 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Lauina Futi, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dom Besag, 14 Rufus McLean, 15 Erich Storti
Replacements: 16 Kaleb Geiger, 17 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 18 Pono Davis, 19 Tevita Naqali, 20 Vili Helu, 21 Christian Poidevin, 22 Ethan McVeigh, 23 Tom Pittman
Date: Friday, August 22
Venue: McMahon Stadium, Calgary
Kickoff: 19:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 21:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 64°F (18°C), wind SE 6-8mph (9-13km/h)
Broadcasts: Paramount+ (USA), TSN 3 (Canada), RugbyPass TV
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistants: Adam Leal (England) & Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
HEAD-TO-HEAD (66): Canada 39, USA 25, Draw 2
2024-08-31 – USA 28, Canada 15 (Carson)
2021-09-11 – USA 38, Canada 16 (Glendale) *RWC Qualifier
2021-09-04 – Canada 34, USA 21 (St. John’s) *RWC Qualifier
2019-09-07 – Canada 15, USA 20 (Vancouver)
2019-07-27 – USA 47, Canada 19 (Glendale)
2019-03-08 – USA 30, Canada 25 (Seattle)
2018-06-23 – Canada 17, USA 42 (Halifax)
2018-02-10 – USA 29, Canada 10 (Sacramento)
2017-07-01 – USA 52, Canada 16 (San Diego) *RWC Qualifier
2017-06-24 – Canada 28, USA 28 (Hamilton) *RWC Qualifier
