Women's Rugby World Cup: Wales out of tournament after 42-0 loss to Canada while Scotland progress
Wales Women follow 38-8 opening Rugby World Cup Pool B defeat to Scotland with a 42-0 hammering by Canada in Salford on Saturday; result sees Canada - world No 2 - confirm their place in the quarter-finals; Scotland's victory over Fiji later on Saturday sees them through and Wales out
Wednesday 3 September 2025 10:47, UK
Wales have suffered a group-stage exit from the Women's Rugby World Cup after being brushed aside 42-0 by heavily-fancied Canada at Salford Community Stadium.
A 38-8 loss to Scotland in last weekend's curtain-raiser left Wales needing to beat Canada - ranked second in the world, behind only England - to realistically keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
They dominated territory and possession early on but went 28-0 down just after the half-hour as McKinley Hunt's two tries and one each for Alysha Corrigan and Asia Hogan-Rochester put Canada on top.
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Taylor Perry and Brittany Kassil touched down after the break, when Georgia Evans was yellow-carded and Sophie de Goede converted all six tries as Canada laid down a marker for their title aspirations.
Wales, who were without co-captains Alex Callender and Kate Williams due to injury, shipped a try after 55 seconds against Scotland but they sprung out of the traps to put Canada under heavy pressure.
Lisa Neumann was just out of reach in an attempt to collect a ball over the top, while Bethan Lewis hesitated when a cross-field kick was sent her way and failed to gather with the try line beckoning.
With Wales' lineout malfunctioning, Canada were able to shrug off a sluggish opening 10 minutes and build pressure inside the opposition 22, which eventually told as Hunt burrowed over under the posts.
Having started the contest so well, Hunt's try after being teed up by Alex Tessier and De Goede was a gut punch for the Welsh and worse was to follow as Canada struck three times inside five minutes.
Corrigan was the first to go over in the 26th minute, putting the finishing touch to a fine move which stretched Wales' defence, while Hunt celebrated her second moments later to continue the one-way traffic.
From the restart, the ball was worked to the left and Hogan-Rochester broke on the wing, sprinting 60 metres to touch down for Canada's bonus-point try.
Gabrielle Senft saw a try chalked off for a couple of infractions after half-time although Evans was sin-binned for a high challenge in the build-up.
Down to 14 players, Wales fell further behind when Canada - not for the first time - went through the phases and recycled the ball for Perry to touch down before Kassil dived over following a driving maul.
Kassil's try came with 26 minutes still to go but Canada saw prop Olivia DeMerchant sent to the bin for a high tackle and they coasted in the closing stages, holding off a spirited Wales finish.
Scotland 29-15 Fiji
Scotland booked their spot in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-finals after battling to a 29-15 win over resilient Fiji at Salford Community Stadium.
Another early try from Francesca McGhie and a brace from Rhona Lloyd helped Scotland establish a 17-5 half-time lead but Manuqalo Komaitai's score after the restart left this Pool B clash in the balance.
However, McGhie's fifth try of the tournament and Emma Orr's excellent solo effort - earning Scotland a bonus point - helped Bryan Easson's side claim a hard-fought victory which guarantees a top-two spot.
Fiji scored a late consolation through Karalaini Naisewa but their group stage exit was confirmed, with Wales also eliminated after Scotland joined pool leaders and favourites Canada on 10 points.
While they were 10-0 up after 10 minutes, Scotland were put through their paces in a hard-fought match, with two of their four tries arriving when Fiji were down to 14 with players in the sin-bin.
What's next?
England play Samoa later on Saturday (5pm), as well as the United States versus Australia (7.30pm) in Pool A.
On Sunday, Ireland face Spain (12pm) and New Zealand go up against Japan (2pm) in Pool C, while Italy and South Africa go head to head (3.30pm) and France face Brazil (4.45pm) in Pool D.