Canadian Women's Rugby Team in World Cup Final: Team of Firefighters Against Professionals from England.

According to The Sun: The Canadian women's rugby team has reached the World Cup final, representing a team with limited funding. It includes not only professional athletes but also firefighters and engineers.

The Canadian players are only 80 minutes away from victory, made possible by incredible perseverance and impressive fundraising campaigns.

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The women's team raised 1 million CAD, which helped them compete in the World Championship.

On Saturday, the team will face England, which will be a serious opponent — defeating the Red Roses at Twickenham will be difficult as this is essentially the home ground for the English team.

However, this is not the only complication for the Canadians. The team is facing a significant lack of financial support: its core is not comprised of a professional collective.

More than 50% of the 32 players represent clubs in England, France, and New Zealand.

Six players are also part of the team that won silver medals at the Olympics in Paris.

Among other players are firefighters, an engineer, and a school coach.

In contrast, the England team consists entirely of professional athletes, and their revenue is 20 times greater than that of Canada.

This financial inequality prompted Rugby Canada to launch the campaign “Mission: Win the Rugby World Cup,” with the goal of raising 1 million CAD (535,355 pounds sterling).

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Without this funding, Canada might not have been able to organize training camps in California, Ontario, and Belfast, as well as exhibition matches in South Africa and Ireland.

Head coach Kevin Rouette emphasized the incredible work of his team despite financial constraints.

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He noted:

“I am French, so when I moved to Canada, I saw a big difference in the desire to work very hard and not complain, which I think reflects Canadian rugby,”

he said.

Captain Alex Tessier called the situation

“difficult,”

but

“something beyond our control.”

However, under their control are the results on the field: the team has won every match, accumulating an impressive 45.4 points per game.

Canada defeated the reigning champions New Zealand 34-19 in the semifinals and also beat Australia, Scotland, Fiji, and Wales.

Now they face England, who surpasses the Canadians in statistics, averaging 56.6 points per game, including a crushing victory of 92-3 over Samoa.

Canada understands that playing against England at Twickenham will be tough, and to prepare, they are training with headphones and speakers to get used to the noise of the 82,000 fans expected at the Allianz Stadium.

It was the Red Roses that halted Canada’s dreams at the 2021 World Cup, defeating them 26-19 in the semifinals in Auckland.

After that defeat, then-captain of Canada Sophie de Goede said:

“There was no difference in talent on the field.”

“Imagine what we can achieve with more games and resources.”

This incredible fundraising campaign allows rugby fans to see what Canadian players can achieve in this tournament.

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