England's Hannah Botterman tackles Canada's Karen Paquin during the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final. The two nations will meet again in October at BMO Field in Toronto.Anthony Upton/The Associated Press
The Canadian women’s rugby team is getting another shot at top-ranked England, at home and abroad this fall.
The two last met Sept. 27 in the Rugby World Cup final, won 33-13 by England before a record crowd of 81,885 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
Third-ranked Canada will host the Red Roses on Oct. 16 at BMO Field, marking the Canadian women’s first outing in the Toronto area since a pair of losses to England in Oakville, Ont., in August, 2011 in Nations Cup play.
The October matchup is part of World Rugby’s new WXV Global Series.
Canada will also play England on Sept. 19 at Sandy Park in Exeter as part of its five-match WXV schedule, with away games against No. 4 France and No. 6 Scotland the same month.
The Canadian women will play another yet-to-be-announced home game in October.
England has not missed a beat since its World Cup triumph, despite losing players to injury, pregnancy and other reasons. The Red Roses have extended their current win streak to 36 matches, outscoring No. 5 Ireland, No. 6 Scotland and No. 12 Wales by a combined 179-43 in recent Six Nations play.
England has not lost since the 2021 World Cup final – played Nov. 12, 2022, in Auckland – when it was edged 34-31 by New Zealand.
Canada, meanwhile, returned to action this month, sandwiching Pacific Four Series wins over No. 8 Australia (34-0) and the seventh-ranked U.S. (50-12) around a 36-14 loss to New Zealand.
Canada's Asia Hogan-Rochester, seen here celebrating scoring her team's first try with teammates, will get a chance to play in front of Canadian fans this fall with the national team.Peter Cziborra/Reuters
The win allowed the Black Ferns to take over second spot in the rankings, dropping the Canadians to No. 3.
Founded in 2023, the WXV previously was a three-tiered competition with Canada taking part in WXV 1, which featured the top three teams from both the Six Nations Championship and Pacific Four Series.
England won the first two editions with Canada runner-up in 2023 and third in 2024. The tournament was not held last year due to the World Cup.
The expanded WXV Global Series features 18 teams, split into two tiers.
The top 12 sides will play home and away matches in September-October while teams ranked 13th through 18th will take part in WXV Global Series Challenger play in Hong Kong in September.
For Rugby Canada, the game against England and subsequent home match offer an important platform on and off the field. The WXV Global Series will see Rugby Canada retain commercial rights to home matches, unlike the previous WXV.
When Canada hosted the tournament in 2024 in the Vancouver area, it was a World Rugby production with Rugby Canada retaining only a portion of ticket sales. This time, the home games are considered a Rugby Canada event.
“It’s a lifeline. It’s an opportunity for us to build on the momentum that the teams have created and hopefully generate some revenue,” said Rugby Canada CEO Nathan Bombrys. “Not just through ticket sales, but also through broadcast. … It’s a great opportunity for rugby in Canada.”
The series has already proved to be a success, in that Canadian Tire is serving as lead sponsor of the so-called “Rugby Rematch Tour.”
Last year's women's Rugby World Cup final drew a record crowd of 81,885 fans to Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. Canadian organizers are hoping to get a big crowd at BMO Field when Canada and England meet again in October.Anthony Upton/The Associated Press
“Our challenges financially are well-documented and they continue,” said Bombrys. “But we want to help ourselves. We want to build our sport. We believe we’re a sport worth investing in, by many different parties. And this gives us another big occasion, a big international major event to invest in and support.”
Rugby Canada teased Monday’s announcement with a social media post saying, “We have something to announce too …” below a photo of the giant ice block that suddenly showed up in downtown Toronto to promote Drake’s upcoming Iceman album.
But unlike Drake, Rugby Canada’s resources are limited, especially when compared to England.
In November, England’s Rugby Football Union reported 2024-25 revenue of £228-million ($420.8-million), almost 25 times Rugby Canada’s 2025 revenue.
Rugby Canada raised $1.06-million last year via its “Mission Win World Cup” campaign. The money, which was added to the governing body’s $2.6-million pre-tournament financing, made up the shortfall in Canada head coach Kevin Rouet’s preparation plan.
The funds helped pay for two additional pretournament camps, the first in Chula Vista, Calif., in May, 2025 ahead of the Pacific Four Series, and the second in Perth, Ont., in July before a pair of test matches in South Africa.
Rugby Canada recently launched a new fundraising campaign titled “Earned Not Given,” which it hopes will help give Rouet’s team more time together in advance of the fall tests.
The governing body has to pay for the Canadian women’s travelling squad’s trip to Europe for the September matches, with its opposition taking care of Canadian costs on the ground.
Likewise, Rugby Canada will take care of England’s expenses while in Canada.
Canada's head coach Kevin Rouet, centre wearing black, stands with his team as they look on while England celebrates their win in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. Rouet is hopeful that this fall's rematch between the two clubs will draw support for Canada's rugby program.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
World Rugby also provides competing countries a grant for taking part in the WXV.
Rouet knows his budget is limited this year, which marks the start of Canada’s journey to the 2029 World Cup in Australia. On the plus side, the Canadian women have already qualified by virtue of making the semi-finals of the 2025 tournament.
Unlike the Pacific Four Series, when some players were away with the Canadian sevens side, Rouet expects to have all of his talent available this fall.
But budgetary restraints will likely mean he won’t work with his players again until the end of August when he hopes the team will be able to gather in Ireland to prepare for the September tests.
“I don’t have the luxury as England does of doing a camp with 45 players and seeing everyone,” he said. “I think my way to see everyone will be to potentially have some rotation in those two tours [WXV home and away] to make sure I give a chance to [everyone].
“I will keep a strong core squad, but with some rotation,” he added. “That’s the downside of this year.”
BMO Field last hosted a rugby international in June 2016 when the Canadian men lost 20-18 to Italy. While Bombrys cited the cost of staging an event in Toronto in explaining the lack of games, he said Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which manages the city-owned venue, has done its part in helping bring the sport back there.
“The proof will be in the pudding on the day,” said Bombrys. “If we get the crowd we’re hoping for or even better, then it makes it easier to come back to Toronto. Whereas if we don’t, it makes it challenging.
“It’s a bit of risk, but we’re being ambitious. When you have the two best teams in the world in a rematch of the World Cup final, you should be ambitious.”
England holds a career 34-3-1 record against Canada, winning 14 straight since a 52-17 Canada win in July 2016 in Salt Lake City.
Rouet, who was appointed Canada head coach in March, 2022 after four years as assistant coach, has a 31-10-1 record in charge. He has lost six times to England, three times to New Zealand and once to France.