Canada Women

That match came in 2014, when Canada lost 21–9 to England. Between those two finals sat a run of fourth-place finishes — 1998, 2002, 2006, 2021.

Kévin Rouet took charge with that history already attached to the team, and under him Canada added the Pacific Four Series to its collection, winning it in 2021 and 2024 and finishing runners-up three other times in the last five years. Alex Tessier captains a side that has also pushed into WXV 1, finishing second there in 2024 after England beat them 21–12.

The rivalry with the United States goes back furthest of all: the two sides met in Victoria in November 1987, the first women's international rugby test played outside Europe, and Canada lost it 22–3. New Zealand and England have since taken over as the matches that decide finals, and it is against those two that the Maple Leafs keep arriving at the same point — a team good enough to reach a final, not yet the one that wins it.