AND SO IT BEGINS!!! Probably the most anticipated event in Canadian Rugby for a very long time kicks off this Friday with the start of the Women’s World Cup in England. Canada as the number two ranked side in the World head into the competition brimming with confidence but tournament hosts England are red hot favourites while France and defending Champions New Zealand will also have plenty to say about who ends up lifting the trophy on September 27th at Twickenham. Ticket sales have been outstanding and are looking to break all records for the Women’s game and this 10th edition of the global showdown looks set to give the Women’s game the exposure, support and coverage it has increasingly earned the rights to. In short, it’s very exciting times! Canada’s opener on Saturday in York sees them face a spirited Fijian side, but it should be a relatively comfortable introduction to the Tournament for the Ladies in Red.
Meanwhile, down in Cape Town on Saturday, Australia’s remarkable Wallabies will seek a repeat of that truly stunning win at Ellis Park last weekend over South Africa. A wounded Springbok is always an exceptionally dangerous animal especially in front of a home crowd, so the Wallabies are in for a very tough challenge, but this is a side that keeps on ripping up the form book so who knows what could happen? In Buenos Aires the pressure has just gone up even more for Argentina as they prepare for battle once more with the All Blacks after struggling to contain a dominant New Zealand side last weekend in Cordoba, and reinforcing the point that ironically home ground is almost a disadvantage for the Pumas. Can they prove us all wrong this weekend in front of a passionate and very vocal home crowd, or will the pressure be simply too much for them?
Last but not least even though most Canadian rugby fans will be focusing on our fantastic Women’s efforts in England over the coming weeks, Canada’s Men start their Pacific Nations Cup campaign this weekend, with a game against the USA in Calgary which also doubles as a World Cup 2027 qualifier. The US Eagles will be a tough opponent, though it is hoped that some of the progress shown in Canada’s recent one point loss to Spain will be on show to help the beleagured Men’s side get a much needed win in what is likely to be a very challenging PNC campaign.
So, without any further ado, let’s get stuck into the events that lie ahead this weekend!
The waiting is over, and what looks set to be the biggest and best Women’s World Cup ever gets underway this weekend
The most talked about Women’s World Cup in history is finally here, and looks set to provide us with 6 weeks of glorious competition which will really showcase how far the Women’s game has come in the last three years and how much potential it has for the future. Ticket sales have been strong for the Pool games with the knockout stages looking to see record crowds. The excitement is there, and it looks set to be a genuine spectacle of International Rugby.
There should be some thrilling Pool games, but there is no denying that the Big Four of the Women’s game at the moment are England, Canada, New Zealand, and France. Italy, Ireland, Australia, Scotland, and possibly even South Africa or Wales also look to stir the pot, but the most likely scenario is seeing the Big Four still standing come the Semi-Finals. From there, though, it’s anybody’s guess even if England still look the most accomplished team and on home ground, they will be extremely difficult to beat.
The action all kicks off this Friday, as England open proceedings against the USA in Sunderland. England should see the US off comfortably, but given the intensely physical approach favored by this USA side, England will need to minimise the potential for injuries.
Next up, our fabulous Canadian Women open their World Cup account against Fiji in York. Once again Canada shouldn’t be overly troubled by the spirited and at times inventive Fijians, but much like England will want to manage the risk of injuries and this will still be a challenging match as, although the Fijians are only ranked 14th, they have given the bigger teams some genuine scares over the years. In short, much like their male colleagues, Fiji has the potential to punch way above their weight.
Probaly the most intriguing game, however, of the opening weekend is France’s first game against Italy in Exeter. Italy have improved dramatically since the last World Cup and will definitely provide France with a stern challenge. Les Bleus did not look all that flash against England in their only World Cup warm up match earlier this month, and will need to up their game if they want to avoid an early banana skin against an Italian outfit who will definitely not be in awe of their Six Nations rivals.
Lastly, New Zealand face off against Spain in their opening game on Sunday, and we fear that this may end up being a completely one-sided contest. Spain lost 97-7 in their warmup game against England, and we are slightly concerned that this could end up being nothing more than a simple training run for the Black Ferns.
In short, of the big Four this weekend, we’ll probably learn the most about France and the least about New Zealand. In the meantime, though it’s time to don the red jerseys and let the cheering begin as our incredible Canadian Women get stuck in to a Tournament which sees them as probably the most prepared and capable side ever to attend a World Cup in either the Men or Women’s game in this country. Let the games begin!!!
All the action is being shown on TSN and Stan Sport Australia.
England vs USA – Friday, August 22nd – 1:53 PM (Eastern) – TSN 3 and 4 and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Canada vs Fiji – Saturday, August 23rd – 12:00 PM (Eastern) – TSN 1 and 5, Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
France vs Italy – Saturday, August 23rd – 2:57 PM (Eastern) TSN 5 and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
New Zealand vs Spain – Sunday, August 24th – 12:12 PM (Eastern) TSN 3 and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Meanwhile, Canada’s Men start their uphill struggle to qualify for the next World Cup in Australia in 2027 with a Pacific Nations Cup opener against the USA
Like we say although much of our attention on all things Canadian when it comes to rugby over the coming weeks will be focused on our extraordinary Women and their World Cup exploits, this weekend sees the start of the annual Pacific Nations Cup between Canada, USA, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. As always, Fiji are favorites to win it, and the format means that Canada won’t get to see any of the Pacific Island sides until the knockout stages. The competition is essentially divided up into two Pools, which sees one Pool comprising the Pacific Island sides and the other Japan, Canada, and the USA.
Canada will at least have the advantage of facing the USA at home in Calgary before traveling across the Pacific to play their second Pool game against Japan. The rest of the tournament, including the knockouts, will take place in the USA.
Consequently, Canada has some rather exhausting travel to deal with after Friday’s game in Calgary and given they are the lowest ranked team of all the six competitors it’s not exactly ideal for a team that has struggled for the last six years to arrest a dizzying freefall in the World Rankings. Tonga will be the side that Canada arguably has the best chance against, but Friday’s game against the USA has the added pressure of being a World Cup qualifier. The USA have also been experiencing a steady decline in their fortunes and will be desperate to reverse that slide in Calgary. As a result Canada’s new Coach Stephen Meehan will want to see his charges build on a lot of the positives they displayed in their agonising one point loss to Spain earlier this summer, in what will be a very challenging encounter, with plenty at stake for both sides.
The one player we are really excited to see back in action for Canada, and arguably our brightest star in the making, is utility forward Matthew Oworu. He was outstanding against Spain and, along with Lucas Rumball, ensured that Canada were competitive for the full eighty minutes. If Canada are to qualify for the World Cup, then Oworu will definitely be one of the players who gets them there.
Canada vs USA – Friday, August 22nd – 9:00 PM (Eastern) TSN 3 and TSN+ (live and on demand)
Australia’s spectacular Wallabies look to go 2 for 2 in Cape Town after turning the form book upside down and inside and out last weekend with that epic win at Ellis Park
We actually ran out of superlatives within the first few sips of our post-match pint last Saturday, after Australia’s spectacular 38-22 win against all odds over the Springboks at Fortress Ellis Park in Johannesburg. To score 38 unanswered points over the reigning World Champions on one of their holy home grounds is nothing short of a miracle. Australia went into the game as massive underdogs but emerged as superheroes. One thing was unanimous after the final whistle and that was that we had all watched a remarkable game of rugby and one which all 23 players of Australia’s matchday squad should be justifiably proud of for years to come.
There was that ominous feeling after the first quarter, with South Africa up 22-0, that this was going to be a whitewash for the home side. The hard earned confidence and self-belief gained by the Wallabies during the course of the Lions series looked set to be extinguished, and Australian rugby about to take another two steps backward. South Africa’s infamous brute physicality appeared to be taking its toll, and the Wallabies were taking the pounding that most had predicted.
Then, on minute 28, everything changed. Winger Dylan Pietsch suddenly found himself in acres of space, and all of a sudden, the Wallabies were up by five. From that point on, they simply never looked back. As Australia got sharper, the Springboks, by comparison, looked uncharacteristically out of sorts. South Africa’s setpiece work disintegrated, their defense became laughable, and their discipline went out the window. Especially out wide South Africa’s defense was beyond porous, and Australia’s footloose and fancy free backline proceeded to revel in the space they were able to find.
Huge credit must be given to Australia’s halfback pairing of Nic White and James O’Connor, who combined fantastically to create acres of space and opportunity for their teammates. The Wallabies forward pack gave as good as they got in the contact areas and back rower, and Man of the Match Fraser McReight produced some fantastic turnover ball for Australia and was an absolute menace in the loose. Meanwhile, fullback Tom Wright cemented his claim to being one of the very best in the World right now in the position, and some of his passing and line breaks had to be seen to be believed.
As good as Australia’s game management, passing and kicking game was, South Africa’s, by comparison, deteriorated dramatically as the game wore on with some truly awful decision-making thrown in to make matters worse. If you read last week’s post, you may recall us saying that Springbok fly half Manie Libbok can have some real shockers at Test Level, and Saturday’s performance at Ellis Park definitely falls into that category. The more things started to unravel, the worse he got. Consequently, it’s no surprise to see veteran Handre Pollard assume the game management reins for this weekend’s fixture in Cape Town.
Don’t get us wrong, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Springboks as there were some sound performances from some players. Eben Etzebeth as always was a powerhouse in attack and defence, while Pieter-Steph du Toit continuously showed off the skill sets that earned him World Player of the Year in 2019 and 2024 but he sadly picked up an injury which rules him out for the second Test. Despite the wheels falling of Manie Libbok’s train, his halfback partner Grant Williams in the nine jersey had a relatively positive game, and he keeps his spot as a result for the second Test. Veteran fullback Willie le Roux gets drafted in at the tender age of 36, as although Aphelele Fassi had some good moments, he was ultimately outclassed by Australia’s maestro in the 15 jersey Tom Wright. Despite techically being the wrong side of 35, le Roux had a good season with the Bulls, and there is no denying his experience.
Out wide South Africa will be pleased to see the return of all-star winger Cheslin Kolbe. Despite his dimunitive size, he is able to tackle like a demon, a quality which was sorely lacking last weekend for South Africa on the touchlines. He is accompanied by Canan Moodie who comes off the bench, as both last weekend’s starters Edwill van der Merwe and Kurt-Lee Arendse are out with injury, though given the amount of tackles they missed that may be a blessing in disguise. South Africa strengthen their center pairings, which were also not up to standard last weekend both on attack and in defense, by retaining Jesse Kriel but bringing in veteran Damian de Allende. If they can tighten up their passing/kicking game and solidify their setpiece work, then service as normal should resume for the Springboks and their outraged fans this weekend.
For Australia, we are still without the teamsheet for Saturday’s fixture. However, there are a few givens we are aware of. In short, it’s a mixture of good and bad news. It’s been confirmed that Captain Harry Wilson who was such an inspiration last weekend will miss the second Test as a result of tweaking his knee in his outstanding 63rd minute try last Saturday, while winger Dylan Pietsch who scored Australia’s opening try, and which really got the ball rolling for the Wallabies, is out with a broken jaw.
Despite such significant losses, Australia will be heartened by the return of arguably one of their three best players, big Rob Valentini. The dynamic back rower is arguably Australia’s most valuable asset in the physical battles, which will likely play such a huge part in Saturday’s contest in a damp Cape Town arena. Also drafted into the squad as Dylan Pietsch’s replacement is Brumbies winger Corey Toole who is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, men in Australian rugby right now and who scored 13 tries for the Canberra outfit this season in Super Rugby.
South Africa are highly unlikely to be as poor again as they were last Saturday and should be much more effective in shutting down the spaces that Australia were able to exploit with almost joyful abandon last weekend. Their setpiece work is also likely to afford Australia a lot less possession than they got in Johannesburg. South Africa, with Handre Pollard running the show in the ten jersey, play a much less expansive game than they attempted at Ellis Park, and as result there will be a lot less spilt crumbs for the Wallabies to seize on. South Africa’s kicking game will be a lot more controlled and precise and expect them to pass the ball a good deal less than they did last weekend. In short, we are probably going to see South Africa adopting the tried and trusted formula of getting their forwards to tuck the ball up the jersey and bash the opposition into submission and exhaustion through the center of the park.
However, a bit like the French, the Wallabies seem to be reveling in both throwing the form book out the window and doing what you least expect them to do. They clearly are thriving with the underdog label, and the one thing we noticed with surprise last weekend was how Australia looked considerably fitter than their opponents even at altitude. At times, the Springboks looked dead on their feet while the Wallabies still could pass as extras in a Duracell bunny advert. Did last weekend’s superhuman effort take too much out of the Wallaby tank, leaving them potentially exhausted for Saturday’s dustup against a very fired up Springbok side with a point to prove and revenge on their lips? We can’t wait to find out!!!!
South Africa vs Australia – Saturday, August 23rd – 2:57 PM (Eastern) TSN+, Premier Sports Asia, FLO Rugby and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Home advantage, anyone? In Argentina’s case, it would almost seem to be a case of “no thank you”
Like we said last week, we find Argentina’s difficulty in regularly securing wins on home soil a conundrum. This is a team that can regularly bring home big scalps while on the road, but it would seem that the pressure and emotion of playing in front of their ardent supporters trips them up more often than it aids their cause. In short, they are a team who are infinitely more successful on the road than they are at home. We wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to see Argentina lose both Tests at home to the All Blacks this Rugby Championship and then go on to beat the Wallabies twice in Australia.
That being said, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Pumas in their 41-24 loss to New Zealand last weekend in Cordoba. There was some genuine fightback at times, and at one point, it looked like they had clawed their way right back into contention by the end of the third quarter. Fly half Tomas Albornoz made a welcome return to the side, and immediately proved his value. Their setpiece work, however, will need some serious first aid against New Zealand with some uncharacteristic wobbles at lineout time seen in Cordoba. However, their scrum held up well for the most part against the All Blacks. Their loose forward trio, as always, was a complete menace, and defensively, they made a decent fist of containing New Zealand despite the scoreline. In short, there was nothing that screamed imminent defeat in Argentina’s performance last Saturday. New Zealand were simply more efficient with the opportunities they had and were the more composed under pressure of the two sides when it mattered most.
As a result, we’d argue that this weekend’s dustup in Buenos Aires should, in theory, be a much closer affair. Argentina will want to tighten up their defensive structures against New Zealand’s rolling maul, which saw replacement Hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho score two tries in quick succession, which essentially sealed Argentina’s fate. Consequently, we are fascinated to see who keeps their spot this weekend in the starting fifteen and who gets rotated on to or off the bench.
As for New Zealand, it will likely be much of the same in what we see in terms of their approach to this game. With South Africa’s loss to Australia, they will know that another big win will allow them to place one hand provisionally on the silverware. Standout performances have to be attributed to All Black back rower Ardie Savea, who once again proved why he is one of the most difficult players to contain in International Rugby. The sight of several Argentinian players clinging vainly to Savea as he writhed and thrashed his way down the pitch was as always fairly common on Saturday.
New Zealand will be especially pleased with the performance of scrum half Cortez Ratima, who, after a few false starts, really seemed to show his Test credentials last weekend in Cordoba. Will Jordan showed yet again why the All Blacks simply can’t afford not to have him somewhere in their backline. What remains to be seen is if Jordan will be kept at fullback for Saturday’s encounter in Buenos Aires or moved to the wing, and Damian McKenzie brought in to either the ten or fifteen jersey. In our humble opinion, we doubt we’ll see such a change, especially as Sevu Reece, who many felt was lucky to get a starting berth on the wing, put in such a solid performance last weekend.
We still hold that McKenzie may simply be too much of a target for Argentina’s big bruising pack, especially in an encounter likely to be high on physicality and emotion. Beauden Barrett coped well with the noise and emotion in Cordoba as well as managing to keep himself out of the line of fire of Argentina’s big men while still pulling the strings on the All Blacks attack. Perhaps even more interesting is whether or not, after his rapid fire, try scoring antics last weekend, Hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho is left on the bench or given a starting berth.
Argentina will be better in this second Test and look more like the side that showed up in the second half in Cordoba. New Zealand will know they also need to notch it up a gear or two, but the performance last weekend showed that for the most part the basic nuts and bolts are there to get the job done if they are to get a repeat of last weekend’s success.
The big question is, can Argentina use the pressure they are under to their advantage, and finally make playing at home a strong suit in their considerable arsenal of skills and capabilities. They have a world class team, who is now no stranger to what it feels like to beat the All Blacks. To beat them at home in front of the faithful will mean almost as much to this Pumas team as winning the World Cup. The stakes are high. Can Argentina handle the pressure? We can’t wait to find out as we’re sure you can’t either.
Well, that’s it for this week, folks. Almost didn’t get anything out due to work pressures, but glad we were able to get some of our thoughts down on paper. Especially in such a momentous week and so much going on in International Rugby with the Crown Jewel being the start of the Women’s World Cup. So, like we say, get your Canada jerseys out and let the cheering begin, and may it last the full six weeks!
The Lineout 