CANADA’S WOMEN’S RUGBY TEAM BEGINS PACIFIC FOUR SERIES TITLE DEFENCE WITH VICTORY OVER USA

May 2, 2025 (Kansas City, MO) - In front of a packed CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team defeated the USA 26-14 to kick off their 2025 Pacific Four Series campaign, their tenth consecutive victory over their American rivals.  

With the game tied at 14-14 and the USA down a player from a yellow card, Courtney O’Donnell scored at the 68-minute mark followed by Sarah-Maude Lachance at the 77th minute to secure a bonus point victory for Canada.  

“Today was the beginning of the journey towards the Rugby World Cup,” said Canada’s Captain, Alex Tessier. “We have only been together for ten days so today was about focusing on ourselves. Despite the win, we can still take lots of learnings from tonight. It wasn’t pretty at times but we still managed to do some great things on the pitch.” 

Scrum-half Justine Pelletier opened the scoring after Canada spent most of the opening 10 minutes around the American five-metre line. Pelletier found a gap at the edge of a ruck and ran 20 metres for the try, which was later converted by Julia Schell to give Canada an early 7-0 lead.  

On two separate occasions Canada believed they had extended their lead, only for both tries to be called back after a television match official (TMO) review determined the ball was a knock on.  

However, in the 35th minute, following a kicking error by the USA, Canada was given a scrum at centre field. Gabrielle Senft picked from the back of the scrum and nearly went the distance before being tackled just shy of the try line, with Laetitia Royer getting over the line for Canada’s second try of the match. Schell’s second conversion extended the lead to 14-0 for Canada.  

The Americans answered almost immediately with their first try and conversion to cut Canada’s lead back down to seven before the first half ended. 

With the game still locked at 14-7 for Canada in the 52nd minute, O’Donnell was given a yellow card for a high tackle, putting Canada down to 14 players on the field. Despite O’Donnell being off, Canada controlled the play, moving the ball down deep into the USA zone before American Alev Kelter intercepted a pass and ran almost the full distance of the field to score, with the conversion that followed eventually tying the game at 14-14.  

The USA yellow card came in the 68th minute, also for a high tackle, and the Canadians took full advantage. Using a maul from a lineout 10 metres out, Canada drove forward and O’Donnell muscled her way over the line for the try. From a tough angle, Schell slotted her third conversion of the match putting Canada up 21-14. Lachance’s score with three minutes left in the match sealed the 26-14 victory for Canada.  

“As I said, it’s the start of our preparation for the world cup,” added Tessier. “There was definitely some pressure going into tonight. We knew there would be a lot of people in the stands. These are the times we want to learn how to stay calm, cool and collected because when we start the world cup, those will be high pressure games.”  

Canada will now travel to New Zealand to play the Black Ferns at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch on May 16 at 8:35pm PT / 11:35pm ET (May 17 at 3:35pm local time). Canada will close out the Pacific Four Series against Australia at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on May 22 at 11:55pm PT / May 23 at 2:55am ET (4:55pm local time). 

Mission: Win Rugby World Cup    
Rugby Canada has officially launched the Mission: Win the Rugby World Cup 2025 fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise $1,000,000 to provide Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team with extra resources to help them make history by winning the 2025 Rugby World Cup. With their sights set on a groundbreaking achievement this year in England, Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team is currently ranked second in the World Rugby global rankings. For more information or to donate, visit rugby.ca/donate.