Flanker Lucas Rumball clearly remembers Canada's last Rugby World Cup draw, which included marquee matchups with New Zealand and South Africa as well as dates with Italy and Namibia at the 2019 tournament in Japan.

"Mixed feelings is probably a good way to describe it," Rumball recalled.

The good news was they were playing the All Blacks and Springboks, rugby royalty that second-tier nations like Canada usually don't get to face. The bad news was they were playing the All Blacks and Springboks.

"Those are games you want to be a part of," said Rumball, the current Canadian captain. "You want to say you played against the best. Sometimes you get lucky enough to do it. Sometimes, unfortunately it's not the case."

Canada, then ranked 22nd in the world, opened with a 48-7 loss to No. 14 Ita

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