The World Cup enters the knockout stage on Saturday, with Canada the lone Americas representative in the Quarter Finals. Their opponent will be Australia, a familiar foe who the Maple Leafs have played – and beaten – in each of the past four years. In fact for the Wallaroos to advance, they’ll have to accomplish something they have never before achieved – a victory against Canada.
Current World Ranking: 2 (90.13 points)
2025-09-06 – Scotland 19, Canada 40 (Exeter)
2025-08-30 – Wales 0, Canada 42 (Manchester)
2025-08-23 – Canada 65, Fiji 7 (York)
2025-08-09 – Ireland 26, Canada 47 (Belfast)
2025-08-01 – Canada 42, USA 10 (Ottawa)
Current World Ranking: 7 (75.46 points)
2025-09-06 – England 47, Australia 7 (Brighton)
2025-08-30 – USA 31, Australia 31 (York)
2025-08-23 – Australia 73, Samoa 0 (Manchester)
2025-08-01 – Australia 36, Wales 5 (Sydney)
2025-07-26 – Australia 12, Wales 21 (Brisbane)
 |
IN | OUT |
| 5 | Courtney O’Donnell | Tyson Beukeboom |
| 6 | Caroline Crossley | Gabrielle Senft |
| 14 | Alysha Corrigan | Paige Farries |
|
IN | OUT |
| 7 | Emily Chancellor | Ashley Marsters |
| 12 | Cecilia Smith | Trilleen Pomare |
- Kévin Rouet has made minimal changes to his 23, with two rotations in the pack and one substitution out wide… it’s a formidable bench with Laetitia Royer among six forward reserves
- Jo Yapp has changed two from the Wallaroos side that were beaten by England last week… the team’s two most capped players Ashley Marsters and Trilleen Pomare are among the reserves, but there are veterans in their place in Emily Chancellor and Cecilia Smith
- across their seven previous meetings the average margin of victory for Canada is 28 points… their most recent clash in Brisbane four months ago was a 38-point win for the Maple Leafs
Kévin Rouet (Head Coach)
“Our goal coming into the World Cup was to finish on top of our pool and we did that. Now we have to shift our mindset to do or die rugby. We know what we are capable of as a team on the pitch and you can see how the team has been building through the first three games. The preparation this week has been about continuing to refine our skills and the details in our game so we can put together a performance to be proud of.”
Jo Yapp (Head Coach)
“We appreciate it was a loss against England last week but we had an aim to make the quarters to give ourselves a shot and the players have achieved that. We started well against England with our game management and need to show that for longer periods of the game this week. The focus in training is on us. Canada is a physical team and like to move the ball so we are excited for the challenge.”
Breezy weather with a chance of a shower won’t be any help to Australia, whose main threat is through dynamic ball carriers in open play. At the set piece they will be decidedly second-best to the world class Canadian pack, and it won’t get any easier when the cavalry comes on. The Wallaroos might stay in touch until early in the second half but expect the Maple Leafs to pull away in the final quarter. Canada are heavy favorites in Bristol.
CANADA
1 McKinley Hunt, 2 Emily Tuttosi, 3 DaLeaka Menin, 4 Sophie de Goede, 5 Courtney O’Donnell, 6 Caroline Crossley, 7 Karen Paquin, 8 Fabiola Forteza, 9 Justine Pelletier, 10 Taylor Perry, 11 Asia Hogan-Rochester, 12 Alex Tessier (capt.), 13 Florence Symonds, 14 Alysha Corrigan, 15 Julia Schell
Replacements: 16 Gillian Boag, 17 Brittany Kassil, 18 Olivia DeMerchant, 19 Tyson Beukeboom, 20 Laetitia Royer, 21 Gabrielle Senft, 22 Olivia Apps, 23 Shoshanah Seumanutafa
AUSTRALIA
1 Lydia Kavoa, 2 Adiana Talakai, 3 Eva Karpani, 4 Kaitlan Leaney, 5 Michaela Leonard, 6 Piper Duck, 7 Emily Chancellor, 8 Siokapesi Palu (capt.), 9 Samantha Wood, 10 Faitala Moleka, 11 Desiree Miller, 12 Cecilia Smith, 13 Georgina Friedrichs, 14 Maya Stewart, 15 Caitlyn Halse
Replacements: 16 Katalina Amosa, 17 Faliki Pohiva, 18 Bridie O’Gorman, 19 Ashley Fernandez, 20 Ashley Marsters, 21 Tabua Tuinakauvadra, 22 Tia Hinds, 23 Trilleen Pomare
Date: Saturday, September 13
Venue: Ashton Gate, Bristol
Kickoff: 16:00 local (08:00 Pacific, 11:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 59°F (15°C), wind W 14-22mph (25-37km/h)
Broadcasts: TSN 3 (Canada), Paramount+ (USA), RugbyPass TV
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistants: Lauren Jenner (New Zealand) & Holly Wood (England)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
HEAD-TO-HEAD (7): Canada 7, Australia 0
2025-05-23 – Australia 7, Canada 45 (Brisbane)
2024-05-11 – Australia 14, Canada 33 (Sydney)
2023-07-14 – Canada 45, Australia 7 (Ottawa)
2022-06-18 – Australia 10, Canada 22 (Whangarei)
2017-08-26 – Canada 43, Australia 12 (Belfast)
2017-06-17 – Australia 5, Canada 45 (Rotorua)
2014-06-06 – Australia 0, Canada 22 (Tauranga)
