Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Joanna Grisez carrying the ball for France.Alamy Stock Photo FreeResults France eventually shake off Italy as Canada launch World Cup campaign with emphatic win France got the better of Italy while Canada inflicted a 65-7 defeat on Fiji. 11.22pm, 23 Aug 2025 Share options Women’s Rugby World Cup Results France 24-0 Italy Canada 65-7 Fiji FRANCE MADE A winning start to their Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign as they ground out a 24-0 victory over Italy in Exeter on Saturday. On an opening weekend dominated by blow-out results in other group games during the showpiece tournament in England, this Pool D encounter at southwest side Exeter’s Sandy Park was scoreless for 27 minutes, with France wing Joanna Grisez responsible for the lone try of an attritional first half. But Les Bleus eventually pulled clear after the break with further tries from forwards Assia Khalfaoui and Charlotte Escudero. France full-back Morgane Bourgeois converted all three tries and also landed a penalty. Italy could take heart from some excellent defence, with France captain Marine Menager held up over the line when a try seemed all but certain. Grisez broke the deadlock when working a neat overlap out wide on the left before brushing off two defenders, with Bourgeois’s penalty giving France — who have only failed to reach the World Cup semi-finals once in nine tournaments — a 10-0 lead at half-time. Advertisement France pulled further clear five minutes after the break when sustained forward pressure was rewarded by prop Khalfaoui powering through a gap in Italy’s defence. Poor handling from Les Bleus cost them several promising positions. But France put the result beyond doubt just after the hour mark when Escudero forced her way over after Grisez had been held up near the line following a well-judged chip and chase from fly-half Carla Arbez. Julia Schell scores a try for Canada.Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Julia Schell needed just 22 minutes to score a remarkable six tries as Canada launched their Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign with a 65-7 thrashing of Fiji in York on Saturday. The full-back, who plays for London club Ealing Trailfinders in England’s elite Premiership Women’s Rugby, crossed six times from the 50th minute — including a four-minute hat-trick. Schell’s haul was just two tries off the all-time record of eight, set by New Zealand’s Portia Woodman-Wickliffe against Hong Kong in 2017. Victory meant Canada, second in the world rankings, started the tournament in style, with Schell revealing afterwards it was a supporter in the crowd at the York Community Stadium in northern England who had given her the inspiration for a stunning return, saying: “A guy over there told me he would give me $200 if I scored, so I need to go and speak to him. “I think as a team we didn’t start as we wanted to, we had some calm chats at half-time and ramped it up.” Yet Canada still opened the scoring after just five minutes as Sophie de Goede, the outstanding Saracens forward, marked her return to the world stage after missing last year’s Olympic Sevens with a severe knee injury, went in for a try off the back of a line-out. Gillian Boag scored Canada’s second try from a rolling maul and even after Taylor Perry was sin-binned, they continued to dominate, with Caroline Crossley getting away for their third. De Goede then produced a brilliant double miss-pass to put Sarries teammate Alysha Corrigan in for the bonus-point score, before a line-out steal on her own line kept Fiji scoreless at the break. But the Pacific islanders scored the try of the match, with replacement Kolora Lomani finishing a length-of-the-field counter-attack after being put away by skipper Alfreda Fisher. Canada, and Schell in particular, were sparked into life, with the full-back crossing three times in four minutes. And it did not stop there, with Canada scoring two more tries as the second half wore on, either side of Fiji replacement Bulou Vasuturaga’s red card for a high tackle before Karen Paquin added an 11th Canadian try. – © AFP 2025 Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “ France eventually shake off Italy as Canada launch World Cup campaign with emphatic win”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “ France eventually shake off Italy as Canada launch World Cup campaign with emphatic win”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. Leave a Comment Submit a report Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines. 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