Team ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, ranked second and projected to be led by captain Sophie de Goede of Victoria, will open the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup against No. 17 Fiji on Aug. 23 at York Stadium.
The Canadians will continue in Pool B on Aug. 30 against No. 10 Wales at Salford Stadium in Manchester and conclude pool play against No. 7 Scotland on Sept. 6 at Sandy Park in Exeter.
“Playing Wales and Scotland in the U.K. will mean good crowds for our pool games. And Fiji is a rugby hotbed,” said de Goede.
The Oak Bay Secondary product, who suffered a devastating ACL injury in training for sevens just weeks before the 2024 Paris Olympics, has vowed she will be ready to take to the pitch next August for the World Cup in England, describing the quest as her guiding target and something “real and concrete and tangible” to aim for.
That’s after de Goede, a standout in both codes, watched from the sidelines as ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ won the silver medal in sevens at the Olympic Games over the summer in Paris and rose to No. 2 in the world in XVs after a strong run this fall in the WXV-1 tournament. Although personally bittersweet, the Islander described ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½’s accomplishments in the Paris Olympics and in the WXV-1 as critical boosts for Canadian women’s rugby.
De Goede captained ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ to the 2021 World Cup semifinals in New Zealand (played in 2022 due to the pandemic) in a towering performance en route to being named one of five finalists for World Rugby female player of the year.
The other 2025 World Cup groups will consist of England, Australia, Samoa and USA in Pool A, New Zealand, Ireland, Japan and Spain in Pool C, and South Africa, France, Italy and Brazil in Pool D. The pools were announced last week and the schedule on Tuesday.
The tournament opens on Aug. 22 with England playing the U.S. at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
The championship game will take place Sept. 27 on the hallowed rugby ground of Twickenham, now known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship purposes.
Meanwhile, the No. 22 Canadian men’s team announced its roster for the Test matches in Bucharest against No. 21 Chile on Nov. 9 and No. 20 Romania on Nov. 16. The games are important signposts against the type and rank of national sides ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ must challenge in order to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Australia after missing out on the 2023 World Cup in France after having qualified for every World Cup before that.
Lucas Rumball will captain a young, experimental Canadian roster in Bucharest as head coach Kingsley Jones of Sooke looks to build depth for 2027 World Cup qualifying, which begins next year.
The Starlight Stadium-based Pacific Pride Development Academy program will be key in that process as Pride players Noah Flesch, Jesse Kilgour and Rhys James, along with Pride graduate Sam Miller, will be looking for their first caps next month.
“We have an opportunity this fall to continue to test ourselves and build as a group, facing two quality opponents,” bench boss Jones said in a statement.
“Our aim is to develop our depth and have consistency going in 2025. In addition to the experienced leadership on our squad, there are a number of young promising players who will gain more valuable exposure to an international training and competition environment.”
Rugby ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ is based in Langford.
