England’s historic winning streak ends after Red Roses draw with Canada

Still unbeaten, yes, but for England this was anything but business as usual. The Red Roses remain undefeated in 40 Tests but, for once, there were no victory speeches to be delivered afterwards. For the first time since 2022 they have failed to win an international fixture, bringing to an end one of the purest winning sequences in world sport.

A wonderfully committed Canada team fully deserved a share of the spoils and, in some ways, were unfortunate not to depart with more. The outcome was still up for grabs deep into the final quarter and England, in the end, were indebted to two first-half tries from their Exeter wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald which helped to spare their blushes.

With the clock ticking down and the scores still locked at 26-26, however, it appeared as though England might have located the necessary key, only for the home forwards be held up over the line and then denied by a loudly celebrated Canadian ruck turnover. In the final analysis, though, they lacked some of their customary forward dynamism and their frequent match-winner Ellie Kildunne was consistently denied the luxury of space and time out wide under grey, drizzle-threatening skies.

The can-do Canadians, by contrast, all enhanced their reputations and will now be looking forward with even more eagerness to hosting England in two further WXV series Tests this autumn. Here was another reminder of the ability and spirit that took them all the way to last year’s World Cup final, with the openside flanker Julia Omokhuale, the centre Florence Symonds and the perennially excellent Sophie de Goede all outstanding.

The draw also ended England’s previous 100% home record against Canada and left John Mitchell with the unfamiliar task of reflecting on a disappointing Red Roses result. “We were certainly in a ding dong, weren’t we?” said the head coach. “I thought we owned a lot of the second half. We were applying huge pressure but we just didn’t convert. Greater things will come as a result of this. One Test match isn’t going to take us away from our purpose.”

Maybe so but Canada frequently looked the more dangerous team with ball in hand, having grabbed the game by the lapels with two tries in the first quarter for the No 8 Lizzie Gibson and the prop DaLeaka Menin. Both were the product of close quarter pick-and-go pressure, precisely the kind of thing that England love using to their advantage, while a couple of costly dropped balls also did little for home momentum.

They were not at their slickest in other areas, either, but did strike back via a ninth minute try for MacDonald wide on the left and a no-nonsense barging score from Hannah Botterman. The Mitchell plan is clearly to try and speed up the team’s tempo and add more variation to their game but sometimes nothing beats the tried-and-tested basics.

Both sides then had a potential try apiece ruled out, the first when MacDonald was unable to ground properly a bouncing chip ahead and, more contentiously, when a beautiful weaving 45-metre solo score by the athletic Asia Hogan-Rochester was nullified by a marginal forward pass. The ball appeared to come out of the hands flat only to drift forwards subsequently; either way it was tough on the classy Hogan-Rochester.

Canada’s Asia Hogan-Rochester (centre) was unlucky to have a try disallowed because of a forward pass. Photograph: Phil Mingo/PPAUK/Shutterstock

It felt even even harsher when the roving MacDonald grabbed her second, this time on the right, after a strong carry from Sadia Kabeya in the buildup. Canada, though, were not to be deterred and the alert Menin, who also plays her club rugby for Exeter, grabbed her second on the stroke of half-time to send the teams down the tunnel all square at 19-19.

If England’s fans were expecting normal service to be swiftly resumed after the interval they were to be disappointed again. The visitors made the majority of the third quarter running until a turnover in the Red Roses’ 22 gave England a much-needed escape route, leading to a try at the other end for the hooker Bryony Field to mark her first international start.

Still Canada kept coming, shining a sometimes unflattering light on some of England’s first-up tackling out wide. De Goede, in fairness, is not the easiest to stop at full gallop and the second-row galloped 20 metres before offloading to the energetic Olivia Apps inside her. It was not quite enough in the end but this was anything but a routine box-ticking exercise for the world champions, exactly what the women’s international game has been crying out for.

The mood around the ground was again uplifting, as well. Maybe the cowboy hat quotient has fallen slightly but the number of children and young adults in the crowd would still be the envy of any global sport. Win or draw there seems to be no diluting the love and enthusiasm of budding Red Roses everywhere.