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John Eales reacts to Sophie de Goede’s World Cup goal-kicking heroics
By Finn Morton reporting from Bristol
Wallabies legend John Eales has praised another member of the exclusive second-rower goal-kicking club, with Sophie de Goede impressing during Canada’s run to the semi-finals at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
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Eales won two Rugby World Cup titles with Australia, and the lock also kicked one of the most famous penalty goals in the sport’s history. 25 years ago at the ‘Cake Tin’ in Wellington, Eales slotted an 85th-minute penalty to sink the All Blacks 24-23 and win the Bledisloe Cup.
On September 17 – so just yesterday at the time of writing – the Wallabies shared the clip of the second-rower’s unforgettable shot at goal on social media. As the Aussies look to reclaim the Bled over the coming weeks, expect to see that highlight pop up countless times online.
@wallabies_ One of the greatest moments in Wallabies’ history 😮💨 #Wallabies #BledisloeCup ? original sound – Wallabies
But before the Wallabies and All Blacks clash at Eden Park on September 27, the top four teams in women’s rugby are looking to take a significant step towards sporting immortality, with Bristol’s Ashton Gate hosting the World Cup semi-finals across Friday and Saturday.
De Goede has been one of Canada’s many standouts throughout their run to the final four, with the goal-kicking lock collecting two Player of the Match awards already. The 26-year-old has kicked more conversions than anyone else and is the third-top point-scorer.
“It’s unreal. I was really pleased when I found that out,” Eales told RugbyPass when asked about de Goede’s conversion tally at the tournament.
“There might have been the odd other [goal-kicking lock] here or there, but there weren’t many.
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“Hearing that there’s another one in the women’s game is fantastic, and [the fact] that she’s kicked more conversions than anyone else, that’s a great thing.”
It’s quite rare for any forward to stand out as a world-renowned goal-kicker on the international stage. If you look at the five players who have successfully slotted the most conversions in Women’s Rugby World Cup history, they’re all backs.
Dan Carter has scored the most conversions in the history of men’s international rugby, and the top nine players in that list all play fly-half. Springboks great Percy Montgomery is a bit of an exception in the men’s game as the only fullback on that list.
That’s what made Eales’ Bledisloe Cup winner even more memorable. For a tall lock to step up after more than 80 minutes of Test rugby, and then coolly convert such a decisive kick at the posts – it’s truly the stuff of legend.
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Eales was thrilled to discuss de Goede’s heroics. Canada’s rugby superstar is now paving her own path as an icon of the sport. New Zealand’s Braxton Sorensen-McGee and Renee Holmes are the only players who have scored more points at this World Cup, but again, they’re backs.
“It’s more typically associated with the backs. You’ve got the five-eighths kicking, it’s just part of their routine and forwards generally are not kicking in their training much at all. I suppose it’s not as natural to do,” Eales explained.
“I suppose the hardest thing from a forwards point of view, you can have weeks where you get very leg heavy with scrum practice, the rucking and mauling, and all the contact sessions. There’s a lot of that and even the weight sessions that you do.
“You probably find it harder to practice as much as the backs would practice. For me, because you’re doing a different sort of training, and kicking would put a very different strain on you than a lot of the other things that you’re doing – it’s a very dynamic impact.
“Being ready for that and being ready to click into where you’ve got your head in the middle of a ruck and in that fever pitch sort of mode, to be able to step out and change that, I think that mentality, that’s one of the hard things.
“One of the things I’d often do is obviously have my solo kicking sessions at the end of a training session, I often tried to do it at the end of some of the heavier training sessions… when you’re going from a scrum session to a lineout session, I might just go and do two kicks.”
De Goede will start in an unchanged Canada lineup, as the Maple Leafs look to book their spot in just their second-ever Rugby World Cup final. 51-Test veteran Courtney O’Donnell will partner de Goede in the second row, while flanker Karen Paquin reaches the 50-match mark.
Canada seems supremely confident ahead of their clash with New Zealand. They defeated the Black Ferns in New Zealand for the first time during the 2024 Pacific Four Series, and almost repeated those heroics in Christchurch four months ago.
Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu Atai’i (Sylvia) Brunt crossed for a dramatic final-play match-leveller as the hosts fought back to secure a 27-all draw. New Zealand went on to win the Pac Four title, having beaten the USA at North Harbour Stadium the following week.
New Zealand and Canada will meet in the first semi-final on Friday, before England and France clash on Saturday. With a sold-out final at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium practically just one week away, women’s rugby is well and truly on the rise.
“I’ve watched a fair amount of it. I remember going to the World Cup in New Zealand. I went over and watched the two semi-finals, they’re on the same day at Eden Park, and it was such great rugby to watch,” he said.
“The quality of rugby that was on offer was really strong and the crowd were really engaged. This World Cup’s stepped up another level and the performance from the Wallaroos has been really inspirational.”