After the final 80-minutes of the monumental 2025 Rugby World Cup, Canada remained No.2 in the world as England were crowned champions with their 33-13 victory in front of 81,885 fans at Allianz Stadium.
"It sucks to lose. Nobody likes to lose to England, especially. It definitely cuts deep but we have so much to be proud of. We came up short in the last game, butwe're also second-best team in the world. We have everything to be proud of and everything to celebrate. We're always going to want more until we're at the top; that's one of those strengths of our program, until we're there, we're not going to give up." - Tyson Beukeboom, Four-Time RWC Player and Canada Forward
Despite falling short of the grand prize, Canada's historic World Cup campaign and innovative style of play captured the attention and hearts of fans across the globe. From Musician Shania Twain to members of the Canadian Parliament, the landmark event reinforced the potential the Rugby Americas North member Union nation has to the rugby community and beyond. Canada's Women's Sevens program also won silver at last summer's Paris 2024 Olympics.
Up against strong competition of fellow standouts in New Zealand's Jorja Miller and England's Megan Jones, Canada Lock Sophie de Goede captured the 2025 Women's 15s Player of the Year accolade as part of World Rugby's Awards. de Goede is the first Canadian to win the award since 2014 when Magali Harvey won it. "It's a real honor to receive the award. I'm proud of myself for sure, and it's just been a real privilege to get back to playing with this team [after injury]."
The ultimate winner of the six-week event was women's rugby, as records were shattered week-in-and-week-out, leading into the second-highest attended Rugby World Cup match for both the men's and women's competitions and the most watched rugby match of the year thus far at 5.8 million viewers for the Final. Word Rugby, Rugby Americas North, and Unions look forward to capitalizing on the energy generated from these milestone markers and leverage momentum to grow the game as a whole. Read more from World Rugby on what the tournament accomplished here.
