Canada won its first game of the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2022 in Whangarei, New Zealand on Saturday (Sunday in New Zealand). In a rather dominant performance, Canada trounced Japan 41-5.
Team Canada had seven tries in the 36-point win. Emily Tuttosi of Souris, Manitoba led Canada with three ties in collecting the hat trick. Brianna Miller of Pointe-Claire, Quebec had two tries, while Mikaela Nelson of North Vancouver, British Columbia and Paige Farries of Red Deer, Alberta had one try each. Sophie de Goede of Victoria, British Columbia made two conversions, while Miller made one conversion.
Canada got off to a bit of a slow start, as the match was actually tied at five points each after 13 minutes before Canada finally scored the last 36 points. However, the Japanese Women’s Rugby Team deserves some significant credit for controlling the play at times in the early stages of the first half, and showing signs of significant improvement. Remember, at the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland, Japan lost all three matches by a combined score of 125-43.
Despite being currently ranked third in the world, Canada failed to reach the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup. They finished second in Pool A after a record of two wins and one loss. Their most significant loss was a 48-5 spanking at the hands of New Zealand, which prevented them from being the highest ranked second place team in the tournament.
