McKinley Hunt’s double for Canada helps knock Wales out of Rugby World Cup

Canada emphatically booked their place in the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup and inflicted a second successive defeat on Wales after another disappointing afternoon.

Kévin Rouet’s Canada have lived up to the billing inside the opening fortnight with back-to-back victories that have been both impressive and eye-catching. They were far superior to the Welsh here, scoring six tries without reply to set up a showdown with Scotland next weekend, when victory in Exeter will confirm them as Pool B winners.

On back-to-back weekends in Salford, Wales have flattered to deceive. However, while this was a disappointment against a very strong Canada side, the damage was done on the opening weekend against Scotland. There was no getting away from the fact that that game was do-or-die given the contrasting strength of the other two teams in Pool B.

That performance will ultimately be the one to cost them. They needed to cause a major upset here to stand any realistic chance of qualifying and despite showing some early signs of promise, they were unable to make any of their opportunities inside the opening quarter.

How Canada punished them with a devastating show of ruthlessness. “I saw improvements and that’s what I wanted,” the Wales coach, Sean Lynn, said. “The glimpses I saw in the last 20 minutes, that’s what I wanted but we didn’t capitalise in that first quarter. But I’m super proud of them.”

McKinley Hunt opened the scoring with the Canadian’s first real chance before a blitz of three tries in just five minutes swung it decisively their way, pushing them into a 28-0 lead by half-time which Wales never really showed any signs of overcoming.

But as poor as this was for Wales, this was a destructive showing of Canada’s title credentials on multiple fronts. They were heavy favourites to qualify from this group and move on to the knockout stages but the manner in which they have done so during their first two games has been hugely impressive, and a statement to the rest of the field.

Even at 42-0, when Canada spurned an opportunity to go further ahead and inflict more misery on the Welsh, Rouet was seen shaking his head. They were clearly not content with mere qualification here; they wanted to do so in style. “We know we have a job to do to refine our game,” Rouet said. “I am excited for next week because we want to play a good game of rugby.”

Their front five were immense all afternoon, led by the wonderful Sophie de Goede throughout, and when you have players of the calibre of the imperious Olivia Apps to come from the bench, you have all the hallmarks of a group that can cause anyone problems across the full 80 minutes of any contest.

Perhaps this afternoon might have played out differently had Wales taken early advantage of their opportunities. However, their profligacy was punished in stunning fashion by the Canadians, beginning when Hunt forced her way over after 17 minutes.

Wales hung in for a brief period trailing 7-0 but when Alysha Corrigan finished a wonderful team move, it began a sequence of tries that all-but ended this clash as a contest. Hunt quickly claimed her second before a minute later, Asia Hogan-Rochester pushed her way across the line, with De Goede converting all four.

A big lead at the break meant Wales needed somewhat of a miracle against such a dominant side to mount a comeback. That never really felt likely, and the result was decided when Taylor Perry and Brittany Kassil crossed for tries inside three second-half minutes. Wales dug in with great credit in that final 25 minutes but ultimately, the game had long since been decided.

England would have likely watched this contest in the run-up to their meeting with Samoa on Saturday evening. If they did, they will have almost certainly been impressed and put on notice.

McGhie and Orr take Scotland past Fiji and into last eight

Scotland booked their spot in the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals after battling to a 29-15 win over resilient Fiji at Salford Community Stadium.

Another early try from Francesca McGhie and a brace from Rhona Lloyd helped Scotland establish a 17-5 half-time lead but Manuqalo Komaitai’s score after the restart left this Pool B clash in the balance. However, McGhie’s fifth try of the tournament and Emma Orr’s excellent solo effort – earning Scotland a bonus point – helped Bryan Easson’s side claim a hard-fought victory which guarantees a top-two spot.

Fiji scored a late consolation through Karalaini Naisewa but their group-stage exit was confirmed, with Wales also eliminated after Scotland joined Canada, the pool leaders and favourites, on 10 points.

While they were 10-0 up after 10 minutes, Scotland were put through their paces in a hard-fought match, with two of their four tries arriving when Fiji were down to 14 with players in the sin-bin. PA Media