On a night where captain Sarah Hunter led the team out on her 100th international appearance, England faced a much improved Canada outfit but made it back-to-back wins after their 79-5 victory on Friday night at Allianz Park.

England were ahead after three minutes when Heather Kerr crossed from a driving maul for her first ever international try, while Rachael Burford dotted down Katy Daley-Mclean’s grubber and Ellie Kildunne went over with an excellent individual score for a 20-0 half-time lead.

Danielle Waterman, a late replacement for Jess Breach, got the scoring going in the second half, Burford and Kildunne added their second tries, with Hannah Botterman and Jo Brown also going over for their first tries for England.

Canada’s hard work was rewarded late on when Janna Slevinsky went over when they finally broke down a well-drilled England defence while Mckinley Hunt also crossed for Canada in the last action of the match.

Simon Middleton said “We did some great things and some not great things, but we tried. We wanted to look at some different stuff over the course of this series and we showed a lot of innovation in our play I thought.

“We were a little bit scratchy at times and probably didn’t finish to the game like we would have wanted to but for 50 or 60 minutes I thought we were very good.”

The two teams will meet again on Saturday in the final game of the series at Twickenham Stadium after the men’s match against Samoa.

England Women match-day 23, Old Mutual Wealth Series 2017

15. Ellie Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC, 2 caps)
14. Danielle Waterman (Wasps FC Ladies, 76 caps)
13. Rachael Burford (Harlequins Ladies, 74 caps)
12. Amber Reed (Bristol Ladies, 46 caps)
11. Charlotte Clapp (Saracens Women, 11 caps)
10. Katy Daley-Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 93 caps)
9. Leanne Riley (Harlequins Ladies, 15 caps)

1. Rochelle Clark (Wasps FC Ladies, 131 caps)
2. Amy Cokayne (Wasps FC Ladies, 35 caps)
3. Heather Kerr (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 12 caps)
4. Catherine O’Donnell* (Loughborough Lightning, 1 cap)
5. Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 111 caps)
6. Jo Brown (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 1 cap)
7. Marlie Packer (Saracens Women, 53 caps)
8. Sarah Hunter © (Loughborough Lightning, 100 caps)

16. Lark Davies (Worcester Valkyries, 5 caps)
17. Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins Ladies, 33 caps)
18. Hannah Botterman (Saracens Women, 2 caps)
19. Abbie Scott (Harlequins Ladies, 23 caps)
20. Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol Ladies, 37 caps)
21. Caity Mattinson (Bristol Ladies, 2 caps)
22. Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women, 2 caps)
23. Lagi Tuima (Bristol Ladies, 1 cap)

Old Mutual Wealth Series 2017

England 79-5 Canada
Tries: Breach (6), Burford, Dow (2), Cokayne, Packer, Clark, Kildunne
Conversions: Reed (5), Harrison (2)

England 49-12 Canada
Tries: Kerr, Burford (2), Kildunne (2), Waterman, Botterman, Brown
Cons: Reed (2), Harrison.
Pens: Reed

25th November – Twickenham Stadium (KO 17:40, live Sky Sports Arena & Sky Sports Mix)
England Women v Canada

Report courtesy of The RFU

The Red Roses will take on Canada in opening game at Allianz Park on Friday 17th November, (K.O. 19:30, live stream via Englandrugby.com).

The two sides will meet again in a mid-week fixture at The Stoop on Tuesday 21st November, (K.O 19:45, live Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix) before playing in the series finale at Twickenham Stadium on 25th November (K.O. 17:40, live Sky Sports Arena & Sky Sports Mix) with free entry after the men’s game against Samoa.

The 28-player squad will convene in camp on the 13th November in Bisham Abbey.  18 players from the recent Women’s Rugby World Cup squad have been included in the squad, with seven uncapped players also named.

Forward Jo Brown (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) alongside six new backs; Caity Mattinson (Bristol Ladies), Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women), Lagi Tuima (Bristol Ladies), Abigail Dow (Wasps FC Ladies), Jess Breach (Harlequins Ladies) and Ellie Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury) are set to earn international debuts throughout the series.

Simon Middleton, England Women Head Coach today said: “We’re really excited; we know the challenge will be different this season. We have new additions to the squad, a good combination of experience but also some new and exciting talent. We have full confidence that they can come up to standard quickly and showcase their talents, with our more experienced players leading from the front and setting the example that the youngsters need to follow.

“Our focus this season will be about winning and that will stay top of our agenda. We have indoctrinated a winning culture in the squad last season and we want to keep this winning mentality throughout this one. We are looking forward to getting back out and taking on Canada, in what we know will be a challenging and demanding three Test series.”

Alongside the announcement of the Old Mutual Wealth Series squad England have also named a wider 35 woman Elite Player Squad for the 2017/18 season.

The RFU is concluding discussions with the RPA on a remuneration structure for the EPS women’s 15s squad. This will be finalised before the series begins and will include an annual EPS squad fee and a match fee for each game played.

Additional players named as part of the 35 woman EPS include Bianca Blackburn (Gloucester-Hartpury), Lauren Cattell (Saracens Women), Poppy Leitch (Bristol Ladies) , Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning), Kelly Smith (Gloucester- Hartpury Women’s RFC), Rachael Woosey (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) and Olivia Jones (Loughborough Lightning).

England Women Old Mutual Wealth Squad 2017/18 Season

* denotes uncapped player
Forwards 
Sarah Bern (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC)
Jo Brown (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)*
Rowena Burnfield (Richmond FC)
Amy Cokayne (Wasps FC Ladies)
Rochelle Clark (Wasps FC Ladies)
Poppy Cleall (Saracens Women)
Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins Ladies)
Lark Davies (Worcester Valkyries)
Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lightning)
Heather Kerr (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
Justine Lucas (Wasps FC Ladies)
Harriet Millar-Mills (Wasps FC Ladies)
Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol Ladies)
Marlie Packer (Saracens Women)
Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
Abbie Scott (Harlequins Ladies)

Backs
Rachael Burford (Harlequins Ladies)
Jess Breach (Harlequins Ladies)*
Charlotte Clapp (Saracens Women)
Katy Daley-Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
Abigail Dow (Wasps FC Ladies)*
Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women)*
Ellie Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC)*
Caity Mattinson (Bristol Ladies)*
Amber Reed (Bristol Ladies)
Leanne Riley (Harlequins Ladies)
Lagi Tuima (Bristol Ladies)*
Danielle Waterman (Wasps FC Ladies)

Additional Players named in Elite Player Squad
Bianca Blackburn (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC)
Lauren Cattell (Saracens Women)
Olivia Jones (Loughborough Lightning)*
Poppy Leitch (Bristol Ladies)
Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning)*
Kelly Smith (Gloucester- Hartpury Women’s RFC)*
Rachael Woosey (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)*

Old Mutual Wealth Series 2017

17th November – Allianz Park (KO 19:30, live stream via Englandrugby.com)
England Women v Canada
Tickets available via Saracens website

21st November – Twickenham Stoop (KO 19:45, live Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix)
England Women v Canada
Tickets available via Englandrugby.com/tickets

25th November – Twickenham Stadium (KO 17:40, live Sky Sports Arena & Sky Sports Mix)
England Women v Canada

Report courtesy of England Rugby

England Women will play three fixtures against Canada, finishing the series at Twickenham Stadium on November 25 at the conclusion of the men’s game against Samoa. Dates and venues for the opening two games are still to be confirmed.

Last month’s Old Mutual Series saw sell-out crowds at Twickenham stadium for the men and record numbers attending the women’s fixtures. The near 4,000 fans who watched the Red Roses match against the Black Ferns at the Twickenham Stoop was a stadium record for a women’s match.

England Women’s captain Sarah Hunter, who last month was named World Rugby’s Women’s Player of the Year said: “This season, through the support of Old Mutual Wealth, we enjoyed a truly world-class autumn series. It has helped provide great preparation as we build towards the 2017 Women’s World Cup and set a marker for all there is still to do to be the best in the world.

“It was great to have record numbers of fans for home women’s games, and we look forward to building on that next year as women’s rugby in this country continues to grow.”

The senior men will play three Test matches next season at Twickenham stadium against Argentina (November 11), Australia (November 18) and Samoa (November 25). Matches will kick off at 2:30pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports HD.

Both Argentina and Australia were beaten by Eddie Jones’ side as part of this season’s four-game autumn series. England won all four matches and finished the year unbeaten.

An England XV will also take on the Barbarians in the Old Mutual Wealth Cup at Twickenham on May 28^th. The match will take place the day after the Premiership final and before England fly to Argentina for a two-Test series in June.

England Head Coach Eddie Jones said: “This season’s Old Mutual Wealth Series was fantastic for England and we had brilliant support from 82,000 fans every week.

“These block of matches are an important step in our preparations for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and we look forward to playing in the 2017 series against three tough opponents in Argentina, Australia and Samoa.”

Paul Feeney, Chief Executive, Old Mutual Wealth, said: “This year’s Series was a huge success and we are delighted to announce the details of next year’s Old Mutual Wealth Cup and the Old Mutual Wealth Series fixtures. This is an incredibly exciting time for England Rugby and we are proud to support them as we look ahead to what will be a series of thrilling fixtures.”

Old Mutual Wealth’s support of England Rugby extends from the men’s and women’s elite game to the grassroots through Old Mutual Wealth Kids First – England Rugby’s approach to rugby for 6-13 year-olds. It gives children the opportunity to prosper by fostering an environment for having fun, learning and building confidence.

Tickets for the Old Mutual Wealth Cup fixture in May against the Barbarians are available from £5 for children and £25 for adults from 10am on 14th of December via englandrugby.com/tickets

Report courtesy of England Rugby