CAN 40-19 SCO

EXETER – Canada underlined their status at the world’s number-two-ranked team by beating a spirited Scotland to finish top of Pool B and set up a quarter-final with USA or Australia.

EXETER – Canada underlined their status at the world’s number-two-ranked team by beating a spirited Scotland 40-19 to finish top of Pool B and set up a quarter-final with USA or Australia.

Story of the match

Canada won the toss and elected to play with the wind in the first half at a breezy Sandy Park and took advantage with two tries and a penalty try in the opening 40 minutes.

Scotland, who conceded two scores when number eight Evie Gallagher was off the pitch with a yellow card, stayed in touch with tries from Rhona Lloyd and Gallagher.

But Canada hooker Emily Tuttosi scored her second try of the match when she powered through the Scotland defence midway through the second half.

Helen Nelson looked to have put Scotland back within one score of Canada, but her sparkling try off a set lineout move was ruled out for offside before Brittany Kassil put Canada out of sight with another powerful finish for her team’s fourth try.

Francesca McGhie grabbed the consolation score Scotland’s performance deserved to put her joint top of the RWC 2025 try chart with six, before Olivia DeMerchant finished the scoring with Canada’s fifth try.

Mastercard Player of the Match

Canada’s Emily Tuttosi, who plays her club rugby here in Exeter, choked back the tears when receiving her award after an impressive two-try performance.

“I’m so thankful to see a full Sandy Park,” the hooker said. “The south west [of England] always supports rugby and today is testament to that – you see people from all all four nations here and a lot of local support. Women’s rugby is here and it’s here to stay. This was a really good testament to that.

“[It was] a hard-fought win, a lot of us hadn’t played Scotland before. We knew they would bring the fight and this wind also makes it a tale of two halves, but a fun physical game and some good rugby played by both sides.”
Coach insight

Canada head coach Kevin Rouet lauded his team’s ability to mix up their game.

“Even if one part of the game is not perfect, we can score tries in many ways, so we still scored 40 points today against tough opposition,” he said.

“It’s a good group, a fun group to coach, a tough group to coach and I can be direct with them. They don’t care if I don’t cuddle them sometimes, they want straight feedback.”

Bryan Easson cut a frustrated figure at full-time. “I thought we played really well,” the Scotland head coach said. “We went to toe to toe with the second best team in the world and created a lot of opportunities, stayed in the fight until the end.

“When you make small errors against one of the top sides in the world, they capitalise. That’s what happened. The scoreline doesn’t reflect the game.

“We knew this would be a very difficult game for us. We’ve got the quarter-finals, we’re top six in the world so we’re making real progress.”

Stat of the Day

28 – number of defenders beaten by Scotland, nearly twice as many as Canada. Scotland also enjoyed more territory and possession but will rue missed chances.

Next steps

Both teams will move to Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium for next weekend’s quarter-finals, with Canada taking on Australia or USA and Scotland likely to face England.