One year on from Rugby World Cup heartbreak, Canada’s players see positive change

It’s been more than 12 months since Canada and England met in the final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in London. Canada had set the tournament alight, obliterating both Australia and defending champion New Zealand before taking a fifth-minute lead in the final, with Asia Hogan-Rochester touching down on the hallowed turf of Twickenham in front of a world-record crowd.

But as the host team and the beneficiary of much of the 82,000 fans in the stadium – to say nothing of 32 consecutive victories – England proved too strong, powering back for a 33-13 win and its third world title.

It’s a memory that, despite the intervening 381 days since Canada reached the final for just the second time in its history, still lingers for Canada’s Sophie de Goede.

“There’s something very raw there that’s still bubbling away,” she said. “That it’s now like, ‘How do we use these next four years to chase that and to go one step further?’”

Canada almost exacted a measure of atonement last month in Exeter, England, when it clashed with its World Cup vanquishers for the first time since that emotional defeat, but was forced to settle for a 26-26 draw. However, there was the silver lining of finally ending England’s world-record win streak – for men or women – at 39 matches.

Canada’s women’s rugby squad looks to end England’s 39-match winning streak

And Canada now has two chances to end the world’s top-ranked team’s unbeaten streak on home soil, beginning Friday at Toronto’s BMO Field, before moving on to TD Place in Ottawa on Oct. 23. As of Tuesday, Rugby Canada is estimating that over 18,000 supporters will be in attendance in Toronto, which would comfortably surpass the 12,000 that came out on Monday to watch the national women’s soccer team play Denmark.

While the two-game series is officially called the Rugby Rematch Tour, some of the players are calling it something slightly different, with de Goede calling it “this revenge series,” as the third-ranked Canadians try to beat the English for just the fourth time.

Whatever the results against England, the Canadians are enjoying new-found status both at home and abroad on the back of their World Cup exploits. Back in Toronto for the premier of their new docu-series, All Heart: A Rugby Story, which launched on Crave last Friday, the players have certainly noticed.

Like most of her teammates, de Goede plays her club rugby overseas, in her case for Saracens of England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby. She didn’t get a chance to return to Canada until this past summer, but the time gap did little to dampen people’s affections.

“Even though it was eight months on, the amount of support and … recognition of the team and myself, just people saying, ‘Oh my God, I watch the game. I love rugby. My daughter’s playing now. My son’s playing now,’” she said. “It’s just it’s been mind-blowing.”

Her teammate for both club and country, Paige Farries, says that recognition extends beyond Canadian borders.

“A few of us went to Portugal afterwards, and people literally recognized us in Portugal,” she said. “So we kind of felt that excitement build during the World Cup, but certainly afterwards as well.”

Most important for the continued growth of the Canadian national team program, that recognition has also revealed itself in more opportunities for players in the overseas leagues that offer the greatest growth, as well as better financial compensation.

There was arguably no greater example of that than Rochester-Hogan, who parlayed her two tries in the World Cup final – she scored five across the whole tournament – as well as her silver in the rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics two years ago into a contract with Sale Sharks of the PWR.

“One hundred per cent,” she said. “I went overseas in January, and I had wanted to go overseas and play professionally for a couple of years at that point.

“But the World Cup really opened doors for Canadian women’s rugby to say we’re not just really athletic people. We know rugby, we’re innovative, and we are assets to whatever team you’re going to have us on.”

It was a similar story for Canadian scrum half Olivia Apps, who joined Saracens shortly after the World Cup. Teaming up with de Goede, Farries and five other Canadian internationals, Apps was named PWR player of the season as Saracens won the 2026 championship.

That shift is a consequence of what the national team has done, said McKinley Hunt, who played two seasons for Saracens before scoring four tries at the World Cup.

“The perception of Canadian players overseas has always been very positive, but I think there’s now been a renewed belief in our true capabilities, and it hasn’t just been a standalone player who’s joined a program and been valued for that individual contribution,” she said. “It is seen more collectively as Canadians are a force to be reckoned with.”

Canada’s top try scorer at the World Cup – Julia Schell – is one of the Canadians in England who doesn’t play for Saracens, instead turning out for Ealing Trailfinders, beaten 52-14 by Saracens in this year’s PWR final.

Schell, who scored all six of her World Cup tries against Fiji in the tournament opener, adds that the perception of Canada’s place in the rugby world has changed because of the World Cup, particularly its stunning 34-19 victory over New Zealand.

She said she was at an event recently and the president of the Scottish Rugby Football Union referenced that match as one of the best games of rugby he’d ever seen.

“I said to him after, ‘Like honestly that was the best game of rugby I’ve ever played in,’” she said. “So it is cool to see someone with such standing acknowledge that, especially on the women’s side.”

Having taken part in the well-publicized funding drive to provide the money to effectively prepare for a World Cup – which included having players like de Goede appear on Dragon’s Den to ask for sponsorship – the players will be trying to increase their standing so that a repeat performance will hopefully not be needed in three years time ahead of the 2029 World Cup in Australia.

The recent rise of women’s sports in this country hasn’t gone unnoticed either. Some of the players have been to WNBA or Professional Women’s Hockey League games, and while Schell says she’s “envious” about their ability to play at home, others are a little more direct.

“I would love to come home,” said de Goede, interjecting before the question had been fully uttered. “No ifs, ands or buts about it. I think we’re really fortunate to be able to play in England. I’m very grateful for that league … but we’d all love to live at home.”