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There is nothing, no one, so accessible, so reflexively easy to embrace, than the prohibitive underdog come good against insurmountable odds. Materialize out of nowhere, become a feel-good cause for the masses to throw their emotions behind, and they’ll be queued up from Vancouver to St. John’s, Nfld., eager to file adoption papers.

Catch people’s imagination and the world, not to mention the World Cup, can be your oyster.

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“We’ve turned some heads outside of Canada with some top-level games against big teams,” says Canadian rugby centre Nick Blevins, on the phone from Swansea, Wales. “But on this big stage, if people see us win a couple big games here, reach, say, the quarter-finals, you generate more interest, get more kids watching and saying ‘I’d like to give that a try.’

“And it spirals from there.

“It’s definitely gotten bigger back home. If only through my family talking to other people and spreading the word.