Canada 24-21 England: Red Roses' 41-match unbeaten run ends in Toronto

WXV Global Series

Canada (5) 24

Tries: Bauder, Corrigan, Menin, Seumanutafa Cons: De Goede (2)

England (14) 21

Tries: Feaunati, Harrison, Bern Cons: Harrison (3)

England’s 41-match unbeaten streak ended in dramatic fashion as Shoshanah Seumanutafa’s late try handed Canada a thrilling 24-21 victory in Toronto.

Canada, who previously snapped England’s 39-match winning run with a 26-26 draw in Exeter in September, are the first team to defeat the Red Roses since November 2022, when they lost to New Zealand in the World Cup final.

Playing in front of 18,621 fans, a record for a standalone women’s fixture in North America, the result also marks England’s first defeat by Canada since 2016 and their first against their hosts on Canadian soil, having won their previous 11 away matches.

Canada’s Savannah Bauder took advantage of Zoe Harrison’s yellow card to open the scoring in the 15th minute, but it was England who took a 14-5 half-time lead, hitting back late in the first half through Maddie Feaunati and Harrison, with Laetitia Royer in the sin-bin for the hosts.

Sarah Bern cancelled out a stylish solo try from the hosts’ Alysha Corrigan early in the second half to preserve England’s nine-point lead before Canada’s DaLeaka Menin crashed over for a converted score just after the hour mark to set up a tense finale.

Three minutes from time, Canada mounted an attack from halfway after a fumble put Harrison’s clearing kick under pressure, and replacement Seumanutafa charged down the left wing to complete the comeback.

“We’re not driven by outcome. We’re disappointed by the result but there was some very good things in our performance. So we’ll stick to our processes,” said England head coach John Mitchell, following his first defeat since being appointed in late 2023.

“I guess [the loss] frees us up and allows us to find more. I know this group has got more in them. Sometimes it requires the context that we’ve just received to dig deeper and find something more.”

The two sides will renew their rivalry in Ottawa on Friday, 23 October (in the early hours of Saturday on UK time) before England conclude their 2026 WXV Global Series against the USA in New Jersey on Friday, 30 October (21:15 GMT).