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Canada women's national rugby union team


FieldValue
NameCanada
typewomen
BadgeRugby Canada logo.svg
Badge_size200
UnionRugby Canada
NicknameCanucks
Maple Leafs
CaptainAlex Tessier
CoachKévin Rouet
pattern_la1_Canadaleftrwc
pattern_b1_CanadaRWC
pattern_ra1_Canadarightrwc
pattern_sh1_CanadashortsRWC
pattern_so1_CanadasocksRWC
pattern_la2_Canadaleftrwcb
pattern_b2_CanadaRWCb
pattern_ra2_Canadarightrwcb
pattern_sh2_CanadashortsRWCb
pattern_so2_CanadasocksRWC
World Rugby Rank2
World Rugby Rank date2 October 2025
First game3–22
(Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; 14 November 1987)
Largest win98–0
(Dublin, Ireland; 9 August 2017)
Largest loss3–88
(Edmonton, Canada; 8 September 1996)
World cup apps9 (First in 1991)
World cup bestRunners-up (2014, 2025)
websiterugby.ca/en Rugby Canada
World Rugby max2
World Rugby max year2016, 2024–

Maple Leafs | World Rugby Rank date = 2 October 2025 (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; 14 November 1987) (Dublin, Ireland; 9 August 2017) (Edmonton, Canada; 8 September 1996) | World Rugby max year = 2016, 2024–

The Canada women's national rugby union team represents Canada in international rugby union competitions. They are overseen by Rugby Canada, the governing body of rugby union in Canada.

History

The Canadian women's program began to develop in the 1980s with the first match being played in 1987 in Victoria, British Columbia against another international rugby start-up, the United States. It was the first women's international test match that was played outside of Europe.

In 1991, Canada competed in the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup in Wales. The team finished in fifth place after defeating Spain 19–4 in the Plate final. Canada has appeared in every World Cup since 1991.

Canada were finalists at the 2014 Rugby World Cup. They were drawn in the same pool with eventual winners, England. They had a 13 all draw during the pool stage before meeting in the final, Canada lost 21–9 and were runners-up.

In 2022, Canada finished fourth after losing to France in the third place final at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup.

Competitive record

Women's Rugby World Cup

Main article: Canada at the Women's Rugby World Cup

Head-to-head record

Overall

(Full internationals only; Correct as of 27 September 2025)

OpponentFirst gamePlayedWonDrawnLostPercentageSummary198718396483%
20148800100.00%
1993383134%
20222200100.00%
199618909%
20171100100.00%
2002540180.00%
19913300100.00%
19942200100.00%
19942200100.00%
19981100100.00%
1991202117%
20141100100.00%
19948701%
20096600100.00%
20101100100.00%
19911100100.00%
20063300100.00%
19874829019%
1991151122%

Players

Current squad

On 24 July 2025, Kévin Rouet announced Canada's 32-player squad for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.

1 On 15 August 2025, Pamphinette Buisa was ruled out of the World Cup after sustaining an injury in a warm-up match against Ireland. She was replaced by Julia Omokhuale.

Note: The age and number of caps listed for each player is as of 22 August 2025, the first day of the tournament.

World Cup squads

Notable players

  • Heather Moyse is the first Canadian woman to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2016. She has represented Canada in rugby, cycling and bobsleigh; She won two gold medals at the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014. She has made 22 international appearances for Canada in 15s and has been to two Women's Rugby World Cups in 2006 and 2010. She also helped Canada finish in second place at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Russia.

Award winners

The following Canada players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:

YearNomineesWinners
2014Magali HarveyMagali Harvey
Kelly Russell
2022Sophie de Goede
2024Alex Tessier
2025Sophie de Goede (2)Sophie de Goede
YearNo.Players
20217.Karen Paquin
20222.Emily Tuttosi
8.Sophie de Goede
20245.Laetitia Royer
7.Sophie de Goede (2)
12.Alex Tessier
20252.Emily Tuttosi (2)
4.Sophie de Goede (3)
9.Justine Pelletier

Honours

  • Women's Rugby World Cup : Runners-up (2): 2014, 2025

  • WXV 1 : Runners-up (1): 2023

  • Pacific Four Series : Champions (2): 2021, 2024 : Runners-up (3): 2022, 2023, 2025

  • Women's Super Series : Champions (1): 2016

  • Women's Nations Cup : Champions (1): 2013 : Runners-up (2): 2008, 2011

Attendance

The highest attended matches played in Canada.

RankAttendanceOpponentDateVenueLocationRef.
111,453TD Place StadiumOttawa
210,092TD Place StadiumOttawa

References

References

  1. Khan, Safa. "History of Women's Rugby in Ontario". Rugby Ontario.
  2. Birch, John. (16 August 2014). "An American Century: USA's 100th test".
  3. (31 August 2014). "How did England win the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup?". IRB.
  4. Butler, Michael. (17 August 2014). "Women's Rugby World Cup final: England v Canada – as it happened". The Guardian.
  5. Riach, James. (17 August 2014). "Emily Scarratt's boot hands England World Cup final win over Canada".
  6. (17 August 2014). "Women's Rugby World Cup: England beat Canada to win final". BBC Sport.
  7. (12 November 2022). "Blue wave hits Canada as France celebrates Bronze victory".
  8. (12 November 2022). "Canadian women fall to France in bronze-medal match at Rugby World Cup".
  9. (12 November 2022). "Five-try France blow away Canada to take bronze at Rugby World Cup 2021".
  10. (24 July 2025). "32-PLAYERS NAMED TO CANADA'S SQUAD FOR RUGBY WORLD CUP IN ENGLAND".
  11. (15 August 2025). "Buisa ruled out of Canada squad for Women's RWC 2025".
  12. (14 November 2016). "Heather Moyse to be inducted into World Rugby Hall of Fame".
  13. "Heather Moyse - World Rugby - Hall of Fame".
  14. "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby".
  15. (17 August 2014). "Magali Harvey the Women's Player of the Year".
  16. (27 September 2025). "De Goede named World Rugby Player of the Year".
  17. (2 October 2025). "Women's Rugby World Cup stars shine in World Rugby Awards 2025".
  18. (August 2025). "Canada Score 35 Unanswered to Down USA in Front of Record Crowd".
  19. (12 July 2023). "The Soaring Popularity of Women's Rugby: A Look into Crowd Records %".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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