Canada gets first win at wheelchair rugby world championships

Photo: Austin MacLellan receives MVP Award on Thursday

SAO PAULO – National team rookie Austin MacLellan of Fredericton scored 16 tries and was named game MVP as Canada defeated the Netherlands Thursday morning 44-42 at the 2026 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships.

It was Canada’s first victory after dropping its first three games to Australia, Brazil and the U.S. The Canadians conclude the preliminary round later today against New Zealand at 4 p.m. ET.

‘’It was a great performance by our team and to get the first win is huge,’’ said Canada’s head coach Trevor Hirschfield, who took the helm last year after competing at five Paralympic Games. ‘’We were able to stick to the game plan and execute. We were also able to refocus, which is important especially with a back-and-forth team like that.

MacLellan, the first national team player from New Brunswick, is making a huge impression at his first major international tournament.

‘’It’s great to get the monkey off our back,’’ said MacLellan, 25, in the on court interview after the game. ‘’It was a great effort and we stuck to the game plan.’’

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Hirschfield says MacLellan has already moved into a key role on the team.

‘’The player of the game was well deserved for Austin,’’ said Hirschfield. ‘’He played a great game. He’s one of the players we lean on the most. For him, he has brought all the hard work he is putting in at home and it’s showing.’’

Paralympians Anthony Létourneau of Boisbriand, Que., added 10 tries, Cody Caldwell of Peterborough, Ont., and Rio Kanda Kovac of Toronto added six apiece while Matt Debly of Windsor, Ont., chipped in four and Patrice Simard of Quebec City two.

Canada led 12-10 after the first quarter, 23-22 at the half and it was 34-33 for Canada heading into the last quarter.

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‘’We were able to lean on each other, stay on task and that’s what eventually go us through,” added Hirschfield. ”It was a whole team effort and it’s something we want to build on and keep pushing forward

You can watch the World Championship live on the WWR YouTube channel