CANADA and Tonga took early leads in their respective pools with victory in their opening Pacific Nations Cup matches to give their Rugby World Cup 2027 qualification chances a boost.
Tyler Ardron marked his return to international rugby ahead of what he has previously said will be his final season as a player in four-try style, as Canada eased away from USA in Calgary to give coach Stephen Meehan his first win in his third test as head coach.
And Tonga looked in total control from start to finish against Samoa in their first outing of the tournament, as they raced into a 17-0 lead with a direct gameplan to which the visitors had no answer.
CANADA 34 USA 20
Tyler Ardron scored four tries, including a first-half hat-trick, on his return to Canada colours after two years in the international wilderness to help his side to a 34-20 win over USA in the opening match of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2025 and take a huge step towards direct qualification for Rugby World Cup 2027.
It wasn’t the most-spectacular triple in rugby history but Ardron, who plays his club rugby for Castres Olympique in France’s Top 14, won’t care as it helped Canada get a first win over their neighbours to the south for the first time since 2021, and only their second in their last 16 meetings.
His first came in just the third minute, as he crashed over from close range. His second owed everything to the quick-thinking of full-back Peter Nelson, whose inch-perfect crossfield kick from a quickly taken penalty meant he just had to catch and touchdown. His third, five minutes before the break was a smart pick and dot from the back of a ruck.
He and fellow vintage French export, Agen’s Evan Olmstead, were at the forefront of everything Canada – who dominated the set piece and structured play – did well in Calgary.
While Ardron and Olmstead will generate most of the headlines, coach Stephen Meehan was keen to stress the team effort. “I thought the players delivered everything we asked of them,” he said shortly after the final whistle. “Collectively, we’re really happy with what we’ve achieved.”
But Meehan’s side did not have the first-half all their own way on home soil – far from it – as the Eagles gave as good as they got, and looked dangerous in the open spaces. A penalty kicked to touch in the seventh minute of a fast and frenetic opening period led to their opening try as Dominic Besag darted through on a cutback line.
USA took the lead 10 minutes later as the experienced AJ MacGinty found ex-Scotland international Rufus Maclean to score in the corner.
Two more MacGinty penalties and a reply from Nelson meant the scores were level at 20-20 with half-an-hour left to play.
But Ardron’s fourth, after 57 minutes, gave the home side the advantage heading into the final quarter as Canada began to turn the screw. And Nelson won the race to his own hack ahead to extend their lead to 14 with less than 20 minutes to play.
USA’s bid to fight their way back into the game took a decisive blow when McGinty was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on. By that time, however, Canada were in complete control. And they held USA at bay as the clock ran down.
Eagles’ head coach Scott Lawrence said after the match, “Discipline in our lineout and territory battle are critical elements to win in test match rugby, we lost those categories tonight. Both will become the focus as we look ahead to the next round and remainder of the tournament.”
Canada will play Japan next weekend in Sendai, while USA have a week to recover and rebuild before meeting Eddie Jones’s Brave Blossoms in Sacramento, on 6 September, before all six teams head to Denver, Colorado, for the semi-finals and fifth-place play-off.
TONGA 30 SAMOA 16
Tonga kicked off their Pacific Nations Cup 2025 challenge with a dominant 30-16 win over Manu Samoa at Teufaiva Stadium, Nuku’alofa, to put their bid for Rugby World Cup 2027 qualification firmly on the front foot.
Tonga captain Ben Tameifuna, hailed the welcome the fans put on.
“It’s been an awesome occasion,” he said.
“We came to Tonga a couple of weeks ago – to get to where we are now is pretty awesome.”
Tonga travel to Suva this weekend to face Fiji.
Samoa will host the FIJI Flying Fijians at Rotorua a week later.