England v Canada
This was far from a convincing win for the English. A player up after eighteen minutes, they still struggled to hold the Canadians in check.
This was the second game of the day to suffer a red card. My fears about the coming WXV, not to mention all future internationals, are not abated. If World Rugby can prove that the referees’ instructions are reducing the risk of serious injury, then fine. But cards seem to be coming faster than ever. Are lessons in tackling so difficult to learn?
England dominated possession and territory for ten minutes. An attacking line-out saw the captain claim the first score. Just what the Sarries’ crowd ordered.
A few moments later Claudia MacDonald made a devastating break down the right flank. Her advance was halted just in time, but there was Ellie Kildunne in attendance to see the ball over the line. (10-0)
Zoe Aldcroft almost created a third chance when she charged down a clearance kick behind the try-line, but the ball bobbled away into touch.
Then came the decisive moment: Gabrielle Senft was found guilty of a shoulder-on-head collision with Hannah Botterman. 15 v 14 for the rest of the game.
As has happened before, this put fire into the Canadian belly. They had been handicapped by inaccurate line-out work, but now Senft’s flanker-partner, Sara Svoboda, charged down an Aitchison clarance for her team’s first try, in the right-hand corner. (10-5)
England finished the half well on top, but a third score took a lot of getting. It needed Maud Muir to do her version of persuading to get the ball over the line.
Megan Jones was an interesting alternative option as place-kicker. At the third time of asking she managed a conversion. But with Amber Reed on the field (not to mention others), it seemed a strange stage of the season to be asking Jones to shoulder the responsibility.
Half-time 17-5
The English message must have been to put the game to bed at the earliest opportunity. They couldn’t and didn’t.
The second half finished 12-7 to the hosts, hardly the performance management or players can be satisfied with.
The Maple Leafs started right on top, England lucky to win a penalty as their own line gaped. Maybe Deacon’s concern was shown when he made his first changes before 50 minutes were up. But even if the pack had its moment in the tight, they were never able to dominate.
Tension lessened as Amber Reed who had the sound game we should all expect from her, completed a fourth try on 49 minutes. But from there her side managed only one more score, by Jess Breach, giving us a fleeting memory of her double hat-trick on the same ground six years ago.
The programme offered us four photos of Sarries’ new acquisition, two fewer than those six tries of yesteryear, but three more than the total Canada allowed her today.
Taylor Perry was the last to score, in itself a comment on England’s inability to close the game down. She forced her way over,, despite the attentions of Marlie Packer.
There was a concern for England as Lucy Packer limped off, not long after replacing Mo Hunt. It meant Macdonald resumed her old role at No 9. With any luck LP’s injury won’t prove long-lasting.
There was a lot of untidiness from both sides. Conditions were far better than for other games played today, for example in North Wales, where rain fell in torrents. So we have to look elsewhere for excuses. This was a new-look England XV, and the moving parts didn’t work in perfect synchrony.
But it means that we may still expect one or two surprises when that list of 30 is announced.
Result: England 29 Canada 15
Player of the Match: Amber Reed
Attendance: 6,609
Teams
Canada
1. Olivia DeMerchant (Halifax Tars), 2. Emily Tuttosi (Exeter Chiefs), 3. DaLeaka Menin (Exeter Chiefs), 4. Tyson Beukeboom (Trailfinders), 5. Courtney Holtkamp (Red Deer Titans), 6. Gabrielle Senft (Castaway Wanderers) 7. Sara Svoboda (Loughborough Lightning), 8. Sophie de Goede (captain, Saracens), 9. Justine Pelletier (Stade Bordelais), 10. Claire Gallagher (University of Ottawa), 11. *Krissy Scurfield (University of Victoria), 12. Taylor Perry (Oakville Crusaders), 13. Fancy Bermudez (Westshore), 14. Paige Farries (Worcester Warriors), 15. Madison Grant (Cornwall Claymores),
Bench:
16. Gillian Boag (Capilano), 17. McKinley Hunt (Saracens), 18. Alex Ellis (Saracens), 19. Letitia Royer (Romagnat), 20. Fabiola Forteza (Stade Bordelais), 21. Olivia Apps (Lindsay), 22. Shoshanah Seumanutafa (University of British Columbia) , 23. Florence Symonds (University of British Columbia)
*uncapped
England
15. Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins), 14. Jess Breach (Saracens), 13. Megan Jones (Leicester Tigers), 12. Amber Reed (Bristol Bears), 11. Claudia MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), 10. Holly Aitchison (Bristol Bears), 9. Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury), 1. Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears), 2. Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears), 3. Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury), 4. Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury), 5. Sarah Beckett (Gloucester-Hartpury), 6. Morwenna Talling (Sale Sharks), 7. Maisy Allen (Exeter Chiefs), 8. Marlie Packer (captain, Saracens)
Bench
16. Connie Powell (Harlequins), 17. Mackenzie Carson (Gloucester-Hartpury), 18. Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears), 19. Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning), 20. Rosie Galligan (Saracens), 21. Lucy Packer (Harlequins), 22. *Sophie Bridger (Saracens), 23. Abby Dow (Trailfinders)
*uncapped
Officials
Referee: Amber McLachlan (RA)
ARs: Maria Latos (GER) and Adele Robert (BEL)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
with thanks to rugbyreferee.net
Afterthoughts
Lark Atkin-Davies was a late replacement for Amy Cokayne.
I must admit I find a gate of under 7,000 distinctly disappointing, but pretty typical for London. For years the Stoop failed to attract crowds commensurate with the capital’s size. Hamilton, New Zealand, attracted some 3,000 more customers today.
Here rugby fans had a chance to see their favourites for the last time before the big events in New Zealand. Louis Deacon will announce his squad of 30 almost before the cock next crows.
Canada deserve huge credit once more. There were long tracts of the game where you could forget they were a player down. They keep coming so close to toppling the supposed giants.
