The two best women’s rugby teams in the world, No. 1 England and No, 2 Canada, face off Saturday before a sellout crowd of 82,000 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium in England. A look at the matchup:
BY THE NUMBERS: A win Saturday and No. 2 Canada will take over top spot in the World Rugby rankings.
That is select company, given only England and New Zealand have reached No. 1 since the rankings were introduced in February 2016.
In the event England’s 32-match win streak ends Saturday, the Red Roses would trade places with Canada and slip to second. Canada would remain No. 2 if it loses.
No. 3 New Zealand and No. 4 France will trade places in the rankings should the French win the third-place game match between the two earlier Saturday.
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FORM: The Canadian women are unbeaten this year at 11-0-1 and have won 10 straight since a 27-27 draw with the New Zealand Black Ferns in May in Christchurch in Pacific Four Series play. Canada is 21-5-1 since the 2021 World Cup final (played in November 2022 due to the pandemic), with four of those losses to England and the other to New Zealand.
England has won 32 straight and lost just one of its last 63 games, with the lone blemish a 34-31 loss to New Zealand in the final of the last World Cup (where the Red Roses defeated Canada 26-19 in the semifinal). The New Zealand defeat ended a 30-game winning streak.
Of the recent 32 England wins, only one has come with a victory margin of one score (a 38-33 decision over France in April 2023 at Twickenham).
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LAST MEETING: England won 21-12 when the two met in WXV 1 play in Vancouver in October, the Canadian women’s last loss. Canada led 12-7 in the second half before England rallied with tries in the 67th and 80th minute.
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HISTORY — England hoisted the World Cup in 1994 and 2014, when it beat Canada. 21-9. The Red Roses have finished runner-up six times at the tournament, losing to the United States (1991) and New Zealand (2002, 2006, 2010, 2017 and 2021). In addition to its runner-up finish in 2014, Canada has finished fourth on four occasions (1998, 2002, 2006 and 2021).
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WHO’S THE BOSS: Scotland’s Hollie Davidson will referee her second Women’s Rugby World Cup final, having been in charge for the last championship game. Davidson was also an assistant referee for the 2017 final between the same teams in Belfast.
Davidson joins Andre Watson as the only match officials to referee back-to-back Rugby World Cup finals. South Africa’s Watson refereed the men’s final in 1999 and 2003.
Saturday will be Davidson’s 46th test as a referee. Only England’s Sara Cox (51) and South Africa’s Aimee Barrett-Theron (49) have refereed more tests.
Australian Ella Goldsmith will run the third-place game between New Zealand and France.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
