The North American rivals collide on the impartial venue of Tokyo on Saturday. It’s their first assembly since final yr’s World Cup qualifier that noticed the underdog Canadians scoring a powerful win over the USA in Calgary. This time it’s for bragging rights, and a have a look at how depth is constructing in the direction of subsequent yr’s World Cup, with third place within the Pacific Nations Cup additionally on the road.

Present World Rating: 14 (69.49 factors)
2026-09-12 – Japan 63, USA 14 (Osaka)
2026-08-15 – USA XV 25, Argentina XV 24 (Fort Lauderdale)
2026-07-18 – USA 29, Spain 22 (Cary)
2026-07-11 – USA 31, Zimbabwe 15 (Charlotte)
2026-07-04 – USA 30, Portugal 29 (Denver)

Present World Rating: 24 (60.37 factors)
2026-09-12 – Fiji 45, Canada 29 (Osaka)
2026-09-05 – Japan 57, Canada 12 (Niigawa)
2026-07-18 – Canada 23, Zimbabwe 19 (Winnipeg)
2026-07-11 – Canada 14, Portugal 38 (Edmonton)
2026-07-04 – Canada 42, Spain 42 (Edmonton)

	IN	OUT
1	Faka’osi Pifeleti	Payton Telea-Ilalio
7	Lance Williams	Paddy Ryan
10	Luke Carty	Chris Hilsenbeck
12	Cassh Maluia	Tavite Lopeti
14	Julian Roberts	Mark O’Keeffe

	IN	OUT
2	Foster DeWitt	Dewald Kotze
7	Ethan Fryer	Sion Parry
9	Jesse Kilgour	Jason Higgins
10	Cooper Coats	Spencer Jones

• each side come into the match off defeats… Canada put in a spirited efficiency in opposition to defending champions Fiji, whereas the USA regarded flat and effectively off the tempo in opposition to hosts Japan
• Scott Lawrence has responded with 5 modifications to his staring Eagles lineup… essentially the most notable addition is uncapped midfielder Cassh Maluia… the 27-year-old is a former NFL participant and whereas he has trimmed all the way down to adapt to his new sport, Maluia stays a formidable ball service who will take a look at the Canadian protection
• 21-year-old scrumhalf Jesse Kilgour makes his second begin for Canada, as Cooper Coats returns within the No10 shirt… Peñarol flanker Ethan Fryer makes his first take a look at begin since struggling a severe head damage two years in the past
• whereas Main League Rugby as soon as supplied the majority of the Canadian squad, solely 3 starters and 1 reserve appeared within the American competitors in 2026… former Zebre hooker Shilo Klein is the one Eagles match day squad inclusion not hooked up to an MLR facet this yr
• each groups are absent their main abroad professionals as a consequence of membership commitments… names like AJ MacGinty, David Ainu’u, and Jack Iscaro… whereas Canada is with out Tyler Ardron, Andrew Quattrin, and Evan Olmstead, amongst others

Scott Lawrence (Head Coach)

“One of many largest issues we are able to management is our mindset as we go into this sport. After we replicate on that Canada sport final yr, we allow them to recover from us a little bit too quickly. So for me, it’s simply popping out, setting the tone, and throwing our our bodies round early, letting them know we’re right here… and ensuring that we’re sticking to our plan and controlling what we are able to management.”

Steve Meehan (Head Coach)

“We have been proud of among the rugby we performed in opposition to Fiji, good continuity, shut passing and a few actually good passages of play. We need to grow to be a staff that retains the opposition guessing.

“The USA are a disciplined facet and have a mode they’ve been very reliant on. I fully perceive the rivalry and, frankly, I actually take pleasure in it. It was fairly an emotional evening in Calgary after our win final yr, seeing individuals coming collectively after the sport, singing the nationwide anthem and celebrating the event. It was a stunning second.

“We’re attempting to develop one thing right here, and the longer we spend collectively, the larger the understanding the gamers could have of how we need to play and of each other. Their expertise and understanding of the sport have developed over the past 15 months, and collectively and individually they’ve been getting higher each week. Hopefully, that pattern continues.”

Cloudy and humid however cooler circumstances from final week are anticipated at kickoff. Maybe the additional week of acclimatization will enhance a lackluster Eagles outfit who had – till final week – received all of their 2026 matches. Apart from the pure rivalry, gamers on each side will probably be makes their case for inclusion the Nations Cup squad, and finally subsequent yr’s World Cup. Canada have been the higher facet final week and are led by their excellent again row trio, whereas the USA are spearheaded by a dynamic midfield pairing. Present world rankings and the expertise of Ruben de Haas over his reverse ideas the scales in the direction of the Eagles, however not by a lot. USA are slight favorites in Tokyo.

USA
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Shilo Klein, 3 Tonga Kofe, 4 Jason Damm (capt.), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt, 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Lance Williams, 8 Makeen Alikhan, 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 Luke Carty, 11 Noah Brown, 12 Cassh Maluia, 13 Dom Besag, 14 Julian Roberts, 15 Mitch Wilson

Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Payton Telea-Ilalio, 18 Mason Pedersen, 19 Sam Golla, 20 Benjamín Bonasso, 21 Michael Baska, 22 Chris Hilsenbeck, 23 Tavite Lopeti

CANADA
1 Sam Miller, 2 Foster DeWitt, 3 Kyle Steeves, 4 Daragh Doyle, 5 Izzak Kelly, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Ethan Fryer, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Jesse Kilgour, 10 Cooper Coats, 11 Jamie Armstrong, 12 Ben LeSage, 13 Jacob Ince, 14 Kyle Tremblay, 15 Takoda McMullin

Replacements: 16 Dewald Kotze, 17 Emerson Prior, 18 Bryce Worden, 19 Barnaby Waddell, 20 Cody Nhanala, 21 Stephen Webb, 22 Spencer Jones, 23 Liam James

Date: Saturday, September 19
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo
Kickoff: 16:00 native (03:00 Jap, midnight Pacific)
Climate Forecast: cloudy, 77°F (25°C), wind NE 9-14mph (15-22km/h)
Broadcasts: TSN 4 (Canada), Paramount+ (USA), RugbyPass TV

Referee: Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
Assistants: Koki Yamauchi (Japan) & Ibuki Tetsuka (Japan)
TMO: Matthew Rodden (Hong Kong)

HEAD-TO-HEAD (67):  Canada 40, USA 25, Draw 2
2025-08-22 – Canada 34, USA 20 (Calgary) *RWC Qualifier
2024-08-31 – USA 28, Canada 15 (Carson)
2021-09-11 – USA 38, Canada 16 (Glendale) *RWC Qualifier
2021-09-04 – Canada 34, USA 21 (St. John’s) *RWC Qualifier
2019-09-07 – Canada 15, USA 20 (Vancouver)
2019-07-27 – USA 47, Canada 19 (Glendale)
2019-03-08 – USA 30, Canada 25 (Seattle)
2018-06-23 – Canada 17, USA 42 (Halifax)
2018-02-10 – USA 29, Canada 10 (Sacramento)
2017-07-01 – USA 52, Canada 16 (San Diego) *RWC Qualifier