By The Canadian Press

Canada’s run to Women’s World Cup final surprises some, but not Rugby Canada CEO

Sep 23, 2025 | 8:28 AM

Canada’s run to the final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup doesn’t come as a surprise to Rugby Canada chief executive officer Nathan Bombrys.

Canada’s performance at the tournament has sparked such headlines as BBC’s “Fairytale Canada delivers seismic win over New Zealand,” CNN’s “Crowdfunded Canadian team stuns reigning champion New Zealand to reach Women’s Rugby World Cup final” and ESPN’s “Canada crowdfunded their way to Women’s Rugby World Cup. Now they’re in the final.”

“I’m surprised that everyone’s so surprised,” Bombrys said in an interview. “I guess I’ve been around rugby long enough that people expect the establishment to prevail. We’ve known how special this team is for a while. But I guess until they prove it on Saturday, people will continue to be surprised.”

He believes the second-ranked Canadian women will earn more converts Saturday against top-ranked England before a sellout crowd of 82,000 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium and a worldwide television audience.

And while showing respect to England’s Red Roses, who have won 32 straight matches since losing 34-31 to host New Zealand in the final of the last World Cup in November 2022, Bombrys backs his players.

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“Our team is here to win,” he said. “Maybe no one else thinks that but they’re here to win. And they’re going to put it out there Saturday.”

Bombrys also hopes to correct the mistaken view that the Canadian women made it to the tournament cap in hand — only after reaching some 95 per cent of the $1-million target of its “Mission: Win World Cup 2025” fundraising campaign.

“That’s not true at all,” he said.

Bombrys met with Canada coach Kevin Rouet at last fall’s WXV tournament to go over World Cup prep.

“He worked out a plan, given our circumstances, for what it would take to send the team well prepared,” said Bombrys. “And then we priced it up. As an organization we put $2.6 million behind the team — probably the most Rugby Canada’s ever put behind a team — but we identified a gap of a million bucks, so we said ‘OK, let’s go try to raise that money.’

“People laughed at me when I said ‘We’re going to raise a million bucks.””

Bombrys said he met with the team’s leadership group, asking them for their priorities.

“They gave me pretty clear instructions to go and fund those (pre-tournament) training camps, fund their preparation. That’s where they wanted the organization to focus. So that’s what we did.”

The money raised by the campaign was on top of Rugby Canada’s $2.6 million.

“The Canadian public had backed us, which is great,” said Bombrys.

The Canadian women are not getting rich off the tournament. Unlike England, whose players are on contract with the Rugby Football Union in addition to their club wages, the Canadians will earn a modest $12,000 “If they did everything this calendar year,” said Bombrys.

The Canadians have also picked up a “modest” bonus for making the final, with a bit extra to come if they win.

Compare that to England players, who reportedly will each earn a 15,000-pound bonus ($28,030) if they win Saturday.

Most of the Canadian women play their club rugby in England and France, earning little more than room and board.

Bombrys hopes their success will attract sponsors.

“We’re a good investment,” he said. “This sport is growing … And I think the values of the sport are good and aligned with the values of Canada. That’s a phrase (star forward) Sophie (de Goede) uses and I agree with her.”

Values like showing respect to match officials and the opposition.

“This is just the best example of when you support these outstanding young Canadians, look what they do. And that goes for the men too,” Bombrys said.

The 24th-ranked Canadian men, who earn the same amount as the women from Rugby Canada, just qualified for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Like the men’s World Cup, there is no prize money from World Rugby at the women’s tournament.

But the women can look forward to some high-profile matches next year with the advent of the WXV Global Series, which will features the top 18 teams split into two tiers. Canada and the other top-12 teams will play between four and six fixtures annually within a new September-October test window.

The Canadian women, who will continue to take part in the Pacific Four Series in April-May, will tour Europe next September before hosting some games in October — possibly including a visit by England.

“These are all good games,” said Bombrys. “And the best thing that is we’ll have some certainty for a few years so we can plan and the players can plan. And (have) some games in Canada. And hopefully we can showcase our team and generate some support that we need to keep this thing going.”

Actor Russell Crowe, meanwhile, has added his voice to that of Shania Twain and Prime Minister Mark Carney in a social media shootout to the Canadian women.

“Women’s Rugby World Cup? I’m with CANADA!” he tweeted to his 2.8 million followers.

Crowe is no stranger to rugby. He is part-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a rugby league side that plays in Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press