At the 2019 Berlin Marathon, eventual winner Kenenis Bekele came within one step of breaking the world record set by Eliud Kipchoge. The Ethiopian’s winning time was just two seconds off Kenya’s world leader, but he did it the hard way. By the 30km mark, he had lost the pace set by his compatriot Birhanu Legese, and was more than 100m away from the lead. When Bekele made up for lost time, Legese looked around and there was a priceless ‘double-take’ moment in the presence of his compatriot
Any long-distance runner will know that feeling. What happens when you’re leading a race, or just running alone for an extended period of time – and then another competitor pulls along? You hear the hiss of their breath and the pounding of their footsteps as they move side by side, and the race begins again.
It represents a key moment in the dynamics of competition at all levels – a rush of adrenaline and an incentive for the hunter, and a great physical and mental challenge for the leader. It’s a moment England The women will now digest, having seen the end of a winning streak that dates back to the 2022 World Cup finals, 42 matches away.
Head coach John Mitchell took a positive view of the events after the latter’s 24-21 loss to Canada when he remarked: “We are not driven by the result. We are disappointed with the result but there are some very good things about our performance tonight.
“I think the important thing is that the win after the win is harder than before. I guess it frees us up and allows us all to find more. I know this group definitely has more in them, but sometimes it takes the context we just got to dig deeper.”
The three-point defeat marked a sea change in the women’s game, as the Red Roses will only now be able to discover how much they have truly progressed since winning the 2025 World Cup against the same opposition. Last three games in the WXV Global Series – draw with Canada at Exeter’s Sandy Park in the second round, win over the Black Ferns at Twickenham when New Zealand had a draw in the final game of the third round, and now a final narrow loss in Toronto – they have shown cumulatively more than one runner has drawn, and they sit on the shoulders of the women in white.
Captain Meg Jones commented after the game “our aim is to keep improving, to get better and to get better. Our team is built on performance, and we always want to perform. We are our own biggest critics when it comes to that”; but for too long, that improvement has lacked the context of a true challenge.
The problem for England is that they are not tested by the primary international tournament in their annual calendar, apart from the one-off games against France.
‘A serious challenge’ is not the first phrase you would associate with the Six Nations, not where England are concerned. The following excerpt comes from the Women’s Six Nations 2026 report written by World Rugby consultant and former international referee Corris Thomas.
“The main characteristic of the Woman Six Nations The championship since its inception has been a consistent and complete dominance of England over all teams except France. Through the professional era that began in 2017, the 32 league games England have played against four teams until 2025:
- gave an average score of 54-5
- averaging 35 tries scored per tournament, against 2.5 conceded
“In this year’s tournament, against all nations except France, England
- generated an average score of 60-19
- scored 36 tries while conceding 12
“The 2026 tournament suggested that the gap between England and Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy shows little evidence of closure, apart from the number of tries scored by England’s four opponents. In the eight years leading up to this year’s competition, those four opponents averaged just 0.6 tries per game against England. This year it has increased to three attempts per game.”
The problem for England is that they are not tested by the primary international tournament in their annual calendar, apart from the one-off games against France.
The main reason for the calm sailing of England in the waters of the north is to be found in the character of the game that is played there. As Thomas suggests later in his account:
“A consistent feature of the women’s game at domestic and international level is that it is more forward-oriented than the men’s game. Comparing this year’s men’s top six Nations Championship with the women’s edition illustrates the point very well:
- In the men’s version, only 39% of the attempts were scored by attackers – in the women’s version, 58%
- The line-piece and scrum set produced 55% of tries in the men’s Six Nations – they accounted for 71% in the women’s Six Nations
- 27% of attempts in the men’s tournament started from a kick-off inside their own half, which dropped to 19% in the women’s competition.
“The only exceptions to the forward-dominated scoring pattern were France and Scotland.”
Most of the goals are scored by the forwards and close to set-pieces, and England have by far the best set-piece forwards anywhere in planet rugby. The new challenge facing the Red Roses is twofold: neither of their closest rivals, Canada and New Zealand, play their rugby in the Six Nations, nor do they share the same attitude to the game that characterizes that tournament.
This recent article analyzed Canada’s success in getting into the wide channels of attack in the first match at Sandy Park. When the two attacking sides moved the ball from midfield into either of the 15-5 meter channels, England had just two positive outcomes (both converted into tries) but were turned over on six occasions. In contrast, Canada had seven positive outcomes (including two tries and four other line breaks) against a solitary turnover.
In the process, the Canadians with 13 and a back three made up of numbers 11, 14 and 15, with the prominent twin sevens, center Flo Symonds and wing Asia Hogan-Rochester, made 232m to England’s meager 74m. In Toronto, the equation was closer, with the women in the same positions amassing 299m (Canada) to 208m (England), even if all but 50m of the Red Rose were earned by the incomparable Ellie Kildunne from fullback.
England’s 15-5m channel defense was also far superior away from home than it was down in Devon. The influence of new coaching consultant Shaun Edwards was evident as the Red Roses pressed much more aggressively from the outside, looking to eat up space before the Canadian could fully exploit it.
https://t.co/6qE1h3Rkcb
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026
https://t.co/dWCiUo4ATt
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026
In both cases, Jones ate up about 10m of space in front of the field by the time the ball hit the second main receiver, and the Kildunne fullback quickly closed in on the edge when he saw the threat developing. Despite a clean break designed for Alysha Corrigan in the second clip, both attacks end in a reversal, the first with a leg kick and the second with a fierce counter-attack at the breakdown. The actions of Jones and co have the Edwards imprint stamped all over them.
It was Canada’s ability to find ways to counter this new and more aggressive form of Red Rose defense that made all the difference in the second period and put them on top in the final moments of the game. They added an extra layer of depth to their back line, with Symonds looking to put Jones on the ground and draw her out of defense on the right.
https://t.co/XpjC8O6Cvo
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026
They lined up a big forward (back row Gabi Senft) over a small back (winger Jess Breach) and created a mismatch on the left edge.
https://t.co/MBM7S0SNtz
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026
They ended up scoring two of the biggest goals of the game on both ends of the field.
https://t.co/km4fmMwMYG
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026
https://t.co/zKKkZw5goe
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026
In the first snap, Canada use their backline depth and contact relief to offset a Jones rush and put her out of the game, then they’re back in the well for a second time with Corrigan taking advantage of Kildunne’s early shut down with an expertly timed chip and rebound. Jones is clearly still struggling to find his efforts earlier in the sequence. In another, the Red Roses look to hold and kick on the outside and that leaves the prop (Maud Muir) trying to cover the back (Shoshanah Seumanutafa) in cover down the sideline. There can only be one winner of that contest.
Canada finally tied with England. As prop extraordinaire DaLeaka Menin indicated, “what we’ve been trying to show the world today finally came out. We made it difficult for ourselves, but I’m so proud of the result.” The gauntlet for Game 3 in Ottawa next weekend has been thrown, and now it’s up to the Red Roses to find their own Berlin Marathon moment in response.
