Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team Cruises Past USA with Record-Breaking Win in Ottawa

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team wrapped up their final home game before heading to the U.K. with a statement win, blowing past the United States 42–10 at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa. It was Canada’s 11th consecutive win over the U.S., and they did it in front of 11,453 fans, the largest crowd ever for a standalone women’s rugby match in North America.

The U.S. struck first just two minutes in, as No. 8 Freda Tafuna finished a sharp opening drive and the conversion made it 7–0. Canada absorbed the early blow, even while playing down a player after Sophie de Goede was shown yellow. They found their footing through the forwards, building pressure that led to a 27th-minute penalty try after a driving maul was illegally stopped by Hallie Taufo’ou, who was also sent to the bin.

Although the U.S. briefly went back in front with a penalty goal, Canada took control before halftime. McKinley Hunt crashed over from close range and de Goede added the extras to put Canada up 14–10.

“We stayed composed and stuck to our plan,” said captain Alex Tessier. “We came out strong in the second half and finished the job well.”

The floodgates opened after the break. Gabrielle Senft scored just two minutes in off a clean lineout drive. Olivia DeMerchant, in her 60th test appearance, bulldozed over in the 63rd minute, and two minutes later, Karen Paquin broke through for a 30-metre run that set up Florence Symonds for Canada’s fifth try. Mikiela Nelson capped it all off with a rolling maul finish in the 74th minute.

Canada scored six tries in total, all from different players including the penalty try, and racked up 35 unanswered points after trailing 10–7 late in the first half. They dominated the linebreak count 11–4 and controlled possession through the forwards with brutal efficiency.

Conversions were shared between de Goede, who was perfect on four attempts, and Julia Schell, who added the final two points of the match.

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All Photo Credit: Kieran Delport