England Women made it three from three in their 2021 Autumn International campaign thanks to a 51-12 win over Canada at The Stoop.
Simon Middleton’s charges are now unbeaten in 17 matches.
The Red Roses set a blistering early pace, as their forwards – including Poppy Cleall and Abbie Ward, both of whom were earning their 50th cap – pounded the Canadian defence with heavy carries off scrum half Claudia MacDonald.
The pressure paid off after just four minutes. Zoe Harrison with a quick tap penalty fed Helena Rowland, who fizzed a 10-metre pass to Heather Cowell. The winger collected and sprinted into the corner for a try on her Test debut. Harrison missed the conversion.
Canada showed their strength at set piece, turning over a Red Roses scrum, and dealing with the might of England’s maul.
And the Maple Leafs took the lead on the 22-minute mark, as wing Paige Farries intercepted a wayward pass to canter in unopposed. Fly half Brianna Miller added the extras to make it 5-7.
It was short lived though, as on the Red Roses’ next surge toward the Canadian line, Bristol powerhouse prop Sarah Bern bounced off two defenders to claim England’s second try. Harrison followed up her successful conversion with a 30-metre penalty minutes later.
As half time approached a moment of magic saw Canada close the gap, thanks to a superb solo score from wing Sabrina Poulin, who hit an arcing run off an attacking scrum to zip over into the corner.
But Cowell was on hand in the final play of the first half to cross for her second score, the try identical to her first, giving England a 20-12 lead at the break.
Two minutes into the second half Bern hit a line and broke through to score her second, and Harrison’s extras extended the Red Roses lead to 15 points.
In what was their first match outside of North America since 2018, Canada continued to cause problems through their physicality and ambition to attack from anywhere.
But the Red Roses began to take control of the Test, and as the hour mark approached, Claudia MacDonald darted off the back of a rolling maul, splitting the Canadian midfield to dot down under the sticks, giving Harrison the easiest of conversions.
Another penalty from the boot of Harrison, her twelfth point of the match, kept the scoreboard ticking over, and an Alex Matthews try 10 minutes from the end, was followed by another MacDonald score – one converted by Rowland, the other by Harrison – made it 51-12 and secured the win.
The win marked England’s 28th over the number three ranked side in the world, in 32 meets.
Reaction
Head coach Middleton said: “It was a very pleasing result. That was a tough game. We knew it was going to be difficult. It was really really physical. Canada kept going right until the end. We had to weather a physical storm, but we fought fire with fire when we had to and came out on top, it was tough to break them down in the first half. In the second half I thought we were outstanding. We did exactly what we talked about at half-time, we played through them. That performance is right up there. It was really good.
“Our two debutants had really solid games. Some of the defence Sadia Kabeya put in was incredible. She’s a great athlete. We needed tough players today and she is certainly one of those. I said earlier in the week Heather Cowell is picked because she’s a try scorer and to score a try with your first touch in international XVs rugby is remarkable. Her positional play was good in the backfield too. Am thrilled for both of them.”
Captain Sarah Hunter added: “We knew we were going to get a test from Canada, we always do, they are a physical side and we got that again. You look at the score and that doesn’t reflect how the game felt, there was patches in that and moments where they caused us problems and came at us, it was just great how the team got back on track and regained momentum.
“Simon (Middleton) has always talked about having two, three or four players in each position, if we want to go and win a World Cup we’re going to need that, I think the great thing we’re doing is building a real squad depth. You cannot rely on just 15 players.”
Teams
England 1. Hannah Botterman, 2. Amy Cokayne, 3. Sarah Bern, 4. Zoe Aldcroft, 5. Abbie Ward, 6. Sarah Hunter (c), 7. Sadia Kabeya, 8. Poppy Cleall (vc), 9. Claudia MacDonald, 10. Zoe Harrison, 11. Abby Dow, 12. Helena Rowland, 13. Lagi Tuima, 14. Heather Cowell, 15. Sarah McKenna.
Finishers
16. Lark Davies, 17. Vickii Cornborough, 18. Maud Muir, 19. Harriet Millar-Mills,
20. Alex Matthews, 21. Marlie Packer, 22. Leanne Infante, 23. Holly Aitchison.
Canada 1. Olivia Demerchant (c), 2. Emily Tuttosi, 3. Daleaka Menin, 4. Emma Taylor, 5. Courtney Holtkamp, 6. Fabiola Forteza, 7. Karen Paquin, 8. Gabrielle Senft, 9. Brianna Miller, 10. Emily Belchos De Goede, 11. Paige Farries, 12. Alexandra Tessier, 13. Sara Kaljuvee, 14. Sabrina Poulin, 15. Elissa Alarie.
Replacements
16. Laura Russell, 17. Brittany Kassil, 18. Alex Ellis, 19. Tyson Beukeboom, 20. Pamphinette Buisa, 21. Laetitia Royer, 22. Justine Pelletier, 23. Renee Gonzalez.
Fixtures and results
England 43-12 New Zealand
England 56-15 New Zealand
England 51-12 Canada
21 November – England v USA (Sixways Stadium, Worcester KO 2:45pm) – tickets are available here
With thanks to England Rugby
