Saturday, September 6, 2025 (Exeter, England) — Tyson Beukeboom made history in winning fashion on Saturday, earning her 81st cap to become Canada’s all-time most-capped rugby player — across both men’s and women’s teams — as Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team defeated Scotland 40–19 to finish atop Pool B at the Rugby World Cup.
The milestone game for Beukeboom, a veteran of four World Cups, was complemented by special moments for fellow forwards Brittany Kassil and Courtney O’Donnell, who each came off the bench to collect their 50th international caps. Canada’s pack provided the platform for victory, accounting for all six tries in a physical contest at Sandy Park in Exeter.
Canada struck first through McKinley Hunt, who powered over from close range in the 12th minute after the forwards laid the groundwork with sustained pressure inside the 22.
Scotland hit back in the 23rd minute through Rhona Lloyd, but Canada wasted little time in regaining control. Marching straight back into the Scottish 22, Canada piled on the pressure, and when Scotland captain Evie Gallagher was shown a yellow card, Canada went to work at the set piece. Their scrum surged forward under the posts, forcing Scotland to collapse, and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try.
Barely two minutes later, Canada struck again. Playing in front of her club supporters at Sandy Park, hooker Emily Tuttosi finished off a flowing passage of attacking play, diving over in the corner following a slick offload from Sophie de Goede to give Canada a two-score advantage.
The Canadians went into halftime leading 19–5, having carried for 262 metres to Scotland’s 101, with the momentum firmly in their hands.
Scotland threatened a comeback early in the second half, narrowing the gap to 19–12 through Gallagher. But Tuttosi responded immediately with her second try – a tackle-breaking burst from in close – and from there the Canadians never looked back.
A milestone moment came in the 64th minute when Kassil marked her half-century cap in style, crashing over for a try. Scotland replied through Fran McGhie, but Canada had the final say. Replacement prop Olivia DeMerchant powered across in the closing stages to cap off a 40–19 victory, sealing a perfect 3–0 pool record with a +121 point differential.
Canada enjoyed the edge in metres carried (443–363), offloads (14–3), and set piece consistency (100% scrum, 87% lineout). Two-try Tuttosi was named Mastercard Player of the Match, while de Goede added three conversions and a match-high five offloads.
Captain Alex Tessier reflected on the team’s pool-stage sweep and the mindset heading into the knockouts:
“We got the first job done, which was the pool stages. We wanted to finish first in our pool, and we did the job. Expectations are high now – we’re going into the quarterfinals and there’s no going back after that. It was important to finish first in our pool to be in the best position possible. Whoever we face in the knockout rounds, we’ll be prepared.”
Emily Tuttosi echoed Tessier’s focus on building momentum:
“I’m thankful for the outcome today. It was a hard-fought win. A lot of us hadn’t played Scotland before, and we knew they were going to bring the fight. It was a fun, physical game, and there was good rugby played by both sides. We knew coming into the World Cup that we wanted to make it out of pool play, and we’ve set ourselves up for success in the quarterfinals.”
CANADA SCORING SUMMARY
Tries: McKinley Hunt (11′), Penalty Try (32’), Emily Tuttosi 2 (34′, 57’), Brittany Kassil (64’), Olivia DeMerchant (78’)
Conversions: Sophie de Goede (3), Alex Tessier (1)
2025 WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP
Canada’s quarterfinal match will be on Saturday September 13 at 8:00am PT / 11:00am ET (4:00pm local time in England) Their opponent will be confirmed upon the completion of pool play at the Rugby World Cup. The match schedule for the Rugby World Cup can be found here.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham next month is sold out with 82,000 fans, making it the most attended women’s rugby union match ever. Over 400,000 tickets have been sold across all matches so far — three times more than the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand.
CANADA’S WOMEN’S RUGBY TEAM MATCH DAY ROSTER VS SCOTLAND
McKinley Hunt (King City, ON) – Aurora Barbarians / Saracens (34 caps)
Emily Tuttosi (Souris, MB) – Calgary Hornets / Exeter Chiefs (37 caps)
DaLeaka Menin (Vulcan, AB) – Calgary Hornets / Exeter Chiefs (65 caps)
Sophie de Goede (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers / Saracens (37 caps)
Tyson Beukeboom (Uxbridge, ON) – Cowichan Piggies / Aurora Barbarians / Ealing Trailfinders (80 caps)
Fabiola Forteza (Quebec City, QC) – Club de rugby de Québec / Stade Bordelais (37 caps)
Karen Paquin (Quebec City, QC) – Club de rugby de Quebec (47 caps)
Gabrielle Senft (Regina, SK) – Castaway Wanderers / Saracens (36 caps)
Justine Pelletier (Rivière-du-Loup, QC) – Club de rugby de Québec / Stade Bordelais (39 caps)
Taylor Perry (Oakville, ON) – Oakville Crusaders / Exeter Chiefs (19 caps)
Asia Hogan-Rochester (Toronto, ON) – Toronto Nomads / Westshore RFC (4 caps)
Alexandra Tessier (Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, QC) – Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue RFC / Exeter Chiefs (62 caps)
Florence Symonds (Vancouver, BC) – University of British Columbia (14 caps)
Paige Farries (Red Deer, AB) – Saracens (40 caps)
Julia Schell (Uxbridge, ON) – Guelph Goats / Castaway Wanderers / Ealing Trailfinders (28 caps)
FINISHERS
Gillian Boag (Calgary, AB) – Capilano RFC (35 caps)
Brittany Kassil (Guelph, ON) – Guelph Goats (49 caps)
Olivia DeMerchant (Mapledale, NB) – Halifax Tars RFC (62 caps)
Laetitia Royer (Loretteville, QC) – St-Anne-de-Bellevue / Concordia University / Saracens (18 caps)
Courtney O’Donnell (Rimbey, AB) – Red Deer Titans Rugby (49 caps)
Caroline Crossley (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers (9 caps)
Olivia Apps (Lindsay, ON) – Lindsay RFC (21 caps)
Shoshanah Seumanutafa (White Rock, BC) – Counties Manukau (21 caps) MISSION: WIN RUGBY WORLD CUP
In March 2025, Rugby Canada officially launched the Mission: Win Rugby World Cup (MWRWC) 2025 fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $1,000,000. Despite rising to the second world ranking, the Canadian women’s rugby team operates on a fractional budget compared to its closest competitors. This $1 million gap was identified to best equip the team with extra resources to help them make history.
The mission is now within reach: over 95% of the fundraising goal has been pledged through generous individual donations and crowd funding. Rugby Canada extends its deep appreciation to all MWRWC supporters. For more information or to donate, visit rugby.ca/donate.
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About Rugby Canada
Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of Rugby Union in Canada. They administer and operate Men’s and Women’s Senior and Junior National programs in both rugby 15s and 7s, as well as govern the Club and community game for more than 40,000 registered participants from coast to coast in conjunction with ten Provincial Union members.
Rugby Canada is headquartered at the Al Charron National Training Centre in Langford, BC, with staff also working from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa. Rugby Canada business operations, programs and events are delivered nationwide, including the internationally recognized HSBC Vancouver Sevens annual tournaments.