Overview
- Canada hosts the USA at McMahon Stadium on Friday at 7:00 p.m. local (9:00 p.m. ET), with coverage on RugbyPass TV, Paramount+ in the U.S., and TSN in Canada.
- Teams named: Canada welcome back Tyler Ardron at No. 8, while the USA start AJ MacGinty at fly-half and hand Makeen Alikhan his first test start.
- Tonga face Samoa in Nuku'alofa on Saturday, as Fiji and Japan sit out the opening weekend due to three-team pools.
- Qualification stakes are explicit: excluding already-qualified Fiji and Japan, the top three eligible teams secure 2027 World Cup spots, with a fifth-place pathway involving a play-off against the Sudamerica Rugby Championship runners-up and a Final Qualification Tournament route for the loser.
- Knockout venues are set in the U.S., with semifinals on September 14 in Denver and the final on September 20 in Salt Lake City, plus a fifth-vs-sixth qualifier scheduled on semifinals day.