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Two games, two vastly different results.

Just about everything has gone right for Canada’s rugby women in 2016. The men, well, they’re still dealing with the same struggles.

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That much can be said this Saturday, where the women won 48-7 over Ireland in Dublin, while the men lost 21-16 to Romania in Bucharest.

For the women, it was a result which further confirms their status as a favourite for next summer’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland. It was also a reminder of how well this program is doing; even with plenty of work still to be done in optimizing the women’s game in this country, there are still plenty of good lessons from top to bottom for the rest of Canadian rugby.

Head coach Francois Ratier saw his side dominate a summer series vs. France, England and the USA. He was able to add to his depth with the return to XVs by backrowers Karen Paquin and Kelly Russell and star winger Magali Harvey.

It all added up to a vibrant, dominant seven try performance. Against an Irish team which was long on inexperience, the Canadians ran riot. They led from the start and never looked in trouble, scoring three tries in the first half to lead 24-0 at the break.