Canada will play two test matches against the Springbok women in South Africa in July as part of its preparations for the Rugby World Cup.
The matches will take place July 5 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria and July 12 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha. Both matches will see the women play ahead of men’s tests between the top-ranked Springboks and No. 10 Italy.
Canada is ranked second in the world, compared to No. 12 for South Africa.
"These matches in South Africa will play an important role in our preparation ahead of the Rugby World Cup," Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. "Playing the Springbok women will give us two very physical and exciting matches that will give us a good indication as to where we stand in our preparation as we get closer to our first Rugby World Cup match in August."
Canada has won all four previous meetings with South Africa, outscoring the Springbok women 206-56. Most recently, the Canadians won 66-7 in Spain ahead of the 2023 Pacific Four Series.
The teams have never met in South Africa.
Rugby Canada also announced Wednesday that its "Mission: Win Rugby World Cup" fundraising campaign has surpassed $500,000 thanks to its largest donation to date, $150,000 from the Canadian Rugby Foundation’s Monty Heald Fund.
The goal is to raise $1 million to help the Canadian women prepare for the World Cup.
Rugby Canada CEO Nathan Bombrys welcomed the "significant" donation, saying it "will help our team in their strive towards a history-making result for Canada later this year."
Since its inception in 2015, the Canadian Rugby Foundation’s Monty Heald Fund has donated more than $650,000 to directly support Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team, including the recent donation.
The fund was created to address the financial challenges faced by the team. Heald and Barry Giffen, two members of the Rugby Canada Past Presidents Committee, collaborated with alumni from the women’s team to establish the fund under the umbrella of the Canadian Rugby Foundation.
Heald died in 2015.
Rugby Canada reported revenues of $15.6 million in its 2023 annual report, its most recent numbers.
The Canadian women kick off the 2025 season next month in Kansas City where they open defence of their Pacific Four Series title against the eighth-ranked U.S. on May 2 before continuing tournament play May 16 in Christchurch against No. 3 New Zealand and May 22 in Brisbane against No. 6 Australia.
Canada opens World Cup play in England against No. 16 Fiji on Aug. 23 before facing No. 10 Wales on Aug. 30 and No. 7 Scotland on Sept. 6.
The Canadians have won five of their last six matches and eight of the last 12, with the only losses coming at the hands of top-ranked England. Canada is coming off a 21-12 loss to the Red Roses in the deciding match of the WXV 1 tournament in October in Vancouver.
---
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
