Rugby Canada has launched a fundraising campaign to “win the Rugby World Cup 2025” in England, with the goal to raise $1m (£750,000).

Canada Women are an amateur outfit but are ranked number two in the world, and gave World Cup favourites England their toughest game last year, losing the WXV1 final 21-12 in Vancouver.

To help with funding, a private donor will match all donations up to $50,000 (£39,000) throughout March.

“We are fortunate that Rugby Canada is fully invested in supporting us in our mission to win a World Cup and inspire the growth of rugby in our country,” said Canada captain Sophie de Goede.

“That support has only grown over the years to the point that now, unlike many unions, our financial support is on equal footing to the men’s programme.

“The unfortunate part is that the resource pool from which those finances are pulled is much smaller than our competition and our union has been working tirelessly to grow that.”

Generous support of the rugby and Canadian sports communities has ensured Canada are 30% of the way to reaching their fundraising goal, which was officially launched in celebration of International Women’s Day on Saturday.

England are on a 20-game winning run but have not won the World Cup since 2014, when they defeated Canada in the final.

Canada have also reached the semi-finals on four occasions and were narrowly defeated 26-19 by the Red Roses at that stage in 2022.