WXV: England dig deep to deny a dogged Canada and win a second title

England took their second WXV 1 title with a hard-fought 21-12 victory over Canada at BC Place on Saturday.

The battle between the top two sides in the world went down to the wire in Vancouver with England prevailing, a particular impact made by the replacements, named the ‘super eight’ by head coach John Mitchell, to close out the game.

Momentum from early penalty spurred on Canada’s opening passage of attack, Justine Pelletier scoring in the tenth phase with a show-and-go to assert dominance in the first five minutes.

England however turned the tables swiftly, set up well by a damaging run from Alex Matthews which drew four Canadian defenders to set Maud Muir up to score in the next phase to open their account, supported by Hannah Botterman and Rosie Galligan. With the first try for the hosts not converted, Helena Rowland’s two points gave England the 7-5 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes.

The speed Canada brought to proceedings rather dictated the first half, and they battled from some strong defence in their 22 to move back up the pitch as half-time approached.

England held 61% of the possession in the first half but were unable to convert their time in the red zone as a result of a dogged period of defending from Canada. In the final ten minutes of the first 40, possession switched to 61% in Canada’s favour. The Red Roses went into the changing rooms with the two-point lead still remaining from the first ten minutes.

At the break, Pamphinette Buisa topped the tackle table with 13, Emily Tuttosi, Laetitia Royer and England’s Zoe Aldcroft close behind on 12.

Turnovers were also key for Canada in the first half, Buisa, Pelletier, and Asia Hogan-Rochester all contributing to their three turnovers at the break. England had nine scrums in the first half to Canada’s five, but the home side went into half-time with 100% success rate to England’s 67%. England had the edge at the lineout, also winning 67% compared to Canada’s 43%.

England went a player down in the first five minutes as Canada ramped up the attack, Ellie Kildunne yellow carded for cynical side entry. Canada’s lineout however faltered again from the penalty which halted their attacking momentum.

They switched the focus and remained determined, eventually breaking the 40-minute deadlock as the day’s captain Alex Tessier finished off a superb attacking display by spotting a gap between Rowland and Maddie Feaunati to sprint in from outside of the 22. Her own conversion put Canada 12-7 ahead.

England’s discipline cost them again with Bo Westcombe Evans shown a yellow shortly for a deliberate knock-on after Kildunne’s return.

This time around, England didn’t let Canada capitalise on the one-woman advantage and went on to turn the tide despite Canada’s best efforts which had begun to be slightly plagued by errors.

Sarah Bern scored in the 67th minute to put the two sides level, muscling her way across the line from short range. With Rowland’s successful conversion, England were ahead by two points going into the final ten minutes.

Even though England had done enough to win the match, they persisted to score their third try on the stroke of 80 minutes to extend their final margin, boosted by Rowland’s conversion, to nine points. Aldcroft, who finished joint second for tackles with 18, piled over the line with the forward pack behind her to complete her player-of-the-match performance.

BC Place played host to 5,000 fans for the final match of the three-round competition with Canada and England providing the perfect advert for the women’s game as a closing statement.

Ireland, who recorded victories against New Zealand and the USA, finished second in WXV 1, four points behind England with 10. Canada finished third with nine points from their two wins against France and Ireland.

The Black Ferns took fourth place, boosted by their final-day victory over France, who end the competition in fifth with five points. The USA, who failed to win a match in the campaign, were in last place at the end of WXV 1.

Elsewhere, Australia won the WXV 2 title ahead of defending champions Scotland in Cape Town, and in Dubai, Spain won their first WXV 3 title after finishing second to Ireland last year.

All 16 teams have now been confirmed for Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 at the completion of the tournament ahead of the draw on 17 October on the BBC One Show. Spain and Samoa earned their places with top-two WXV 3 finishes ahead of Fiji, who qualified earlier in the year. From WXV 2, Australia, Scotland, Italy, and Wales also had their places at RWC 2025 officially confirmed.