Having secured a return to the Rugby World Cup after missing out on the last tournament, the Canadian men can start planning for the expanded 24-team competition in Australia in 2027.
Canada became the 21st team to book its ticket to the World Cup when Japan defeated the U.S. 47-21 in Sacramento in Pacific Nations Cup play.
The six-country Pacific Nations Cup sends three teams to the World Cup. With Fiji and Japan already pre-qualified by virtue of their performance at the 2023 tournament, the three best non-qualified teams secured an automatic berth in the 2027 field.
Japan’s weekend win assured Canada of one of those berths, as well as a spot in the Pacific Nations Cup semifinals, along with No. 9 Fiji, No. 13 Japan and No. 16 Tonga.Â
“A bit of a nice moment when we all realized that it happened,” said Canada coach Steve Meehan, an Australian who has been at the helm for four games to date.
“A lot of the boys were (watching) in the team room,” he added. “They enjoyed themselves.”Â
The Canadian men missed out on the World Cup for the first time in 2023, losing two-legged qualifying series to the U.S. (59-50) and Chile (54-26). Canada had been to the nine previous tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals in 1991.
Qualifying for the World Cup comes with perks.
In making the 2019 tournament, Canada got an immediate injection of $448,000 in preparation money from World Rugby. CEO Nathan Bombrys said Rugby Canada has yet to hear what that initial funding will be this time.
The Canadian governing body will likely look for help in preparing the men for their World Cup.Â
In working with coach Kevin Rouet on costing its preparation plan for the Women’s World Cup, currently underway in England, Rugby Canada determined a shortfall of $1 million. So it launched “Mission: Win Rugby World Cup,” announcing on the eve of the tournament that it reached 95 per cent of that target.
Rugby Canada reported revenue of $20.21 million in 2024, with some $11.5 million coming from World Rugby, Sport Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Olympic Foundation and other grants.
Contrast that with England’s Rugby Football Union, which cited revenue of 175.2 million pounds ($327.6 million) for the year ending June 30, 2024. And that was down from 221.4 million pounds ($413.9 million) the year before,
While the World Cup does not feature prize money, the world governing body provides pre-tournament funding to qualified teams. And while World Rugby covers travel and accommodation costs at the World Cup, teams unlock more funding the deeper they progress in the tournament given some entrants bring more staff that World Rugby budgets for.
The governing body also provides help to “emerging nations” like Canada in the form of high-performance support, such as providing expert help in the form of consultants and coaches.
For example, former England women’s coach Simon Middleton spent a year embedded with the Japanese team leading up to the Women’s World Cup.
Qualifying for the World Cup also opens the door to quality opposition in the tournament lead-up with the Canadian men taking part in the inaugural World Rugby Nations Championship next year.
The 24 World Cup-bound sides will be divided into two tiers with the teams from the Six Nations Championship — No. 2 Ireland, No. 4 France, No. 5 England, No. 8 Scotland, No. 10 Italy and No. 12 Wales — and the Rugby Championship — No. 1 New Zealand, No. 2 South Africa, No. 6 Australia and No. 7 Argentina — joined in the top tier by two other teams, likely Fiji and Japan.
Canada will play in the second division.
The Nations Championship is scheduled for every other year, other than years when there is a World Cup or British and Irish Lions tour.
Competing teams will play three matches in each of the July and November international windows, with a championship game to follow in each division. Promotion and relegation is slated to be added in 2030.
In the interim, Canada will tour Europe this November for games against No. 11 Georgia, No. 18 Portugal and No. 21 Romania.
The Pacific Nations Cup shifts to Commerce City, Colo., on Sunday for a triple-header. No. 14 Samoa plays the 19th-ranked U.S. Eagles in the fifth-place game, with a World Cup berth on the line, before Tonga takes on Japan and Canada faces Fiji in the semifinals.
The championship game and third-place playoff are scheduled for Sept. 20 in Sandy, Utah.
Meehan will be without two key players on the weekend with captain/backrower Lucas Rumball and centre Ben LeSage both injured. Reinforcements are expected later in the week.
Canada opened Pool B play by defeating the U.S. 34-10 on Aug. 22 in Calgary, before losing 57-50 to Japan eight days later in Sendai.Â
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2025.
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