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LONDON—The Canadian women’s rugby team has been practising with headphones on, just for good measure. They’ve been training with loudspeakers on the sidelines, just to simulate the noise. They’ve made up hand signals to communicate with each other, just in case they can’t hear. Because this might be the biggest game ever. Not just for the Canadian women’s rugby team, which is up against England in the World Cup final here on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET, but for international women’s rugby, period. The 82,000 fans on hand at a sold-out Allianz Stadium will set a record. And if going up against the No. 1-ranked team in the world isn’t enough of a challenge in Canada’s pursuit of its first World Cup, nearly all those fans will be cheering for England. For the players down on the pitch, it might feel like an entire nation is cheering against them — hence the importance of practising with headphones. This is a David-versus-Goliath matchup, only David has a few more feet on him and a weapon more imposing than a sling. Because while Canada is the underdog, it has teeth. The team is ranked second in the world and has made everything look easy in the tournament so far. Canada went undefeated in pool play, then crushed Australia in the quarterfinal, then smashed New Zealand — champion in six of the last seven World Cups — in the semifinal. The squad is unbeaten in its last 12 matches. Its last loss came against England. England hasn’t won the championship since 2014, but has won practically everything in between — including 32 consecutive matches and 62 of its last 63 games. Canada, with the crowd and the noise and the opposition and the history, is facing an uphill battle. Of course, there will be some Canadian fans in the crowd. In the streets of Twickenham, the London district that will host Saturday’s final, the few Canadians were easy to spot — wearing red, sometimes plaid, almost always a maple leaf. Dallas Price checked all three boxes. Years ago, Price coached Asia Hogan-Rochester at Central Technical School in Toronto’s Harbord Village neighbourhood. The team struggled to fill a full roster. It didn’t even have proper warm-up shirts. And Hogan-Rochester, 17 at the time, had never even picked up a rugby ball. Nine years later, with a rugby sevens silver medal from the Paris Olympics to her name, she is starting for Canada in Saturday’s game. “She has been by far the hardest-working player I’ve ever coached,” said Price, who now lives in England and had lots of Toronto friends make the trip over to watch the match. “She fought for it.” In that way, Hogan-Rochester’s tale is the story of this Canadian squad. The team had to crowdfund nearly a third of the budget for its World Cup campaign, raising nearly $1 million through donations and a campaign titled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup 2025. It has taken the players this far. There’s one more game to win. England has no secrets to keep from Canada. They are a “highly structured team,” Uxbridge second-row forward Tyson Beukeboom has said, and Canada “knows how to play against them.” It helps that much of the team has played with or against English players in Premiership Women’s Rugby. “They know us and we know them,” starter Alysha Corrigan said Friday. “It definitely helps that we’ve played against each other every week for the last year. You know the tendencies of certain players, but they also know your tendencies. “It’s fun to have friends on their side.” In their most recent meetings, Canada has shown signs of improvement. The last time they played England, the Canadians led with 13 minutes left on the clock. Ultimately, Canada lost. There were lessons learned, though. They’ll have to pay off on Saturday. After all, it might be the biggest game they ever play.
