Canada recall De Goede and Corrigan for record-crowd England clash in Toronto

Canada have named Sophie de Goede and Alysha Corrigan in their starting XV for Friday’s WXV Global Series match against England at BMO Field in Toronto, with the fixture expected to draw close to 18,000 supporters — a record attendance for a standalone women’s rugby match in North America.

Corrigan, 29, missed Canada’s September fixtures against Scotland, England and France through injury, making Friday’s game her first Test appearance since the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 final. Asia Hogan-Rochester also returns on the opposite wing.

De Goede, the reigning World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year, was rested for Canada’s 21-5 defeat to France three weeks ago. She slots back in at lock alongside Laetitia Royer, with Rachel Smith shifting to blindside flanker to accommodate her return.

In the backs, Alexandra Tessier moves to fly-half, pushing Taylor Perry to inside centre where she will partner Florence Symonds. The front row is unchanged, with Mikiela Nelson, Kiki Idowu and DaLeaka Menin starting, while Julia Omokhuale and Lizzie Gibson complete the back row.

Head coach Kévin Rouet acknowledged the significance of hosting a match of this scale on home soil. “It’s been good to be back in Canada to practice and prepare knowing we will have a record-breaking crowd backing us on Friday night,” he said. “These opportunities to play at home in front of our fans don’t come along very often, so we are focused on the fine details of our game and have been grinding the past few weeks to make sure we are ready. It’s going to be fun. We are excited to walk out of that tunnel on Friday.”

The attendance milestone adds further weight to a fixture that already carries significant competitive stakes, with Canada looking to bounce back from their loss to France in their most recent outing.