The fear of an “abrupt” end to Rugby World Cup 2025 with “no closure” is fuelling Sophie de Goede ahead of Canada’s upcoming quarter-final against Australia.
The Canadians came into this Rugby World Cup as the second-ranked team in the world, and rubberstamped that with an unbeaten pool-stage campaign.
But versatile forward De Goede knows it will all count for nothing if they don’t beat the Wallaroos in Bristol this Saturday. You can lose in the pool stage and still progress, and you can lose a semi-final and still have the bronze final to look forward to. But lose a quarter-final, and there’s no other game of rugby to gather yourself for.
“For any team, you always are planning for what’s next and the next week after that. To lose in the quarter-final feels so abrupt,” she says.
“You have to plan ahead, so you have all these plans for what’s going to happen in the next week and then all of a sudden you’re boarding a plane and you have no closure.
“Certainly all eyes are on this week for the players. I know the coaches have to plan ahead, but we’ve tried to focus in on this week and focus in on Australia and whatever happens after that we’ll attack it after.”
Silverware is clearly the main reason De Goede wants Canada to stay alive at Rugby World Cup 2025, but another is enjoying the interaction she’s been able to have with fans so far during the tournament.
“I’m not as big on the social media as some other people are, and so walking around the stadium after games is where I really feel the connection most with everyone,” she said.
“I know the slogan of this World Cup is ‘This energy never stops’, and I certainly feel like, without leaning too much into that, there has been so much energy that we felt from literally immediately stepping off the bus.
“There’s been energy in and around the stadium, outside the stadium after the games, and even from people as we’re walking around.
“There’s a lot of investment and excitement around the World Cup. World Cups are long, long campaigns, and it gives us a lot of energy to see how much the fans are getting behind it.”
There’s also the bond the Canada squad shares, evident when three of its longest-serving members were honoured after Saturday’s win over Scotland. Brittany Kassil and Courtney O’Donnell reached their 50th caps, and Tyson Beukeboom became the most capped Canadian rugby player in history with her 81st appearance; something the team marked together in their hotel.
“On any type of big milestone we get videos from people’s family and friends, and just have an opportunity to celebrate them,” De Goede says.
“We took the time to really properly acknowledge the contributions that all three of them have made and continue to make. That was a good little moment for everyone.”
The team connection and the intuition among team member has been built over many years spent together, and sometimes doesn’t even need to be spoken out loud to be acknowledged. De Goede was on the receiving end of that intuition first-hand during a gym session on Monday, where she was still struggling to shrug some of her frustrations from Saturday’s game.
“I was feeling really low on energy and lethargic in the gym,” the 26-year-old says. “I write down all my gym programming, and I look over at my book and there’s a note in the corner that says ‘Pull energy from us, we’ve got your back.’
“That’s something little that Laets has done when I’m not looking that makes me smile and reminds me to reset and lean on everyone else.”
If selected this weekend, she will have 22 other Canadians to lean on as the team goes in search of its first ever Rugby World Cup title. The match against a young and exciting Wallaroos team promises to deliver plenty of drama in front of what will be a big, expectant crowd at Ashton Gate.
De Goede points to Australia’s hot-stepping backs as something she and her team will have to be wary of on Saturday, but when it comes down to it, she says it’s up front where she and her fellow forwards have to set the tone and silence their opponents early.
“We take a lot of pride in our pack,” she says.
“As Canadians we’re big athletic people and we have the opportunity to be lethal in scrums, mauls and lineouts. We’ve done a pretty good job of doing that in this tournament.”
She pauses before adding: “Maybe less so in the last game with our scrum, so we have a point to prove there.”
Canada take on Australia in the quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup 2025 in Bristol on Saturday, and you can buy tickets to the game by clicking here.