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England had mixed results in WXV Global Series but the team will learn more from this campaign than their own Rugby World Cup final loss in 2022 and it came at the perfect time.
Red roses, who won the Guinness Women’s for the eighth consecutive time Six Nations title in May, did come with three wins, a draw and two losses, but those last results caused the most attention.
England was unable to win Canada through three matches with two defeats and a draw with their own Women’s Rugby World Cup Opponents in the 2025 final, who were absolutely on the money when they met their rivals.
Kévin Rouet’s side were open about putting everything into their desire to beat England and they achieved that goal, but they inadvertently handed England their biggest lesson of four years.
That’s because England haven’t lost since that final in 2022. Head coach John Mitchell said he would learn more from the defeat than he had from the win, and Abi Burton said RugbyPass that the weak elements of team play are magnified after a loss, which means that they will take a deeper look at where they can improve and grow. This was the best time for defeats to come without a trophy on the line.
While there were elements for England to improve, there were two particular areas in the Ottawa and Toronto games where Canada gained tremendous momentum: Scrappy offense and a flawed lineup. Kicks and loose passes presented multiple opportunities that went begging, and Canada also worked out the attacking plans of England A and B. They swarmed Ellie Kildunne with multiple forwards, which took the star full-back out of the game, and their high press defense and ball-slowing at the breakdown made it difficult for England to get the ball on the front foot.
It wasn’t all bad for England. They will know and take heart that Canada did not delight them. The first defeat was by three, and the second by nine points. Each game was a close encounter and made for exciting viewing for those watching. That’s another advantage of teams catching up to the Red Roses, not only do fans get to see new winners in the game, but they’re able to be enthralled by classic Test matches.
The WXV Global Series wasn’t all losses for England either with wins over Australia, New Zealand and the USA. After a series of matches and they are still the world number 1, but not everything has remained the same, there has been a shake-up in the line-up in the last two matches.
Kildunne’s reticence and drop in form saw her on the bench with Emma Singh starting at full-back with a switch to the wing and Mia Venner starting the last two matches with Claudia Moloney-MacDonald dropped first followed by Jess Breach. Singh had solid performances, but Venner really carved a niche for herself with impressive outings on both occasions.
There’s plenty of time between now and England’s next game at the start of the 2027 Women’s Six Nations in April, so fans will have to wait to see if they’ve claimed those starting shirts long-term. This will not only depend on the campaign that has just passed of course, with the players having to maintain their form during the JAECOO Premiership Women’s Rugby season.
There were also players who were in excellent form for England in all six WXV Global Series matches, namely Bryony Field, Maddie Feaunati, Zoe Harrison and captain Meg Jones. Others had good performances as well, but those four stood out.
Field in particular was impressive, winning his first match against Australia in September and claimed the starting jersey for the close clash against the Black Ferns before playing a role in all other matches. She’s going to cause Mitchell some whore headaches, especially now that Lark Atkin-Davies is back in the game after returning to the field following the birth of her daughter Olive.
England finished their WXV Global Series campaign with a win over USA so they will be left with a feeling of victory before they take the field again. They will also be favorites to win a ninth women’s Six Nations tournament in a row, with the only realistic challengers for the title being France, whose form has soared in October.
Despite missing many of their top stars like Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Manae Feleu for their New Zealand series, the Black Ferns have beaten them repeatedly in the three Tests. New Zealand won the three games by a total score of 148-31 and the first game 81-12, which does not paint a promising picture for next year’s title. But they will play England at the Allianz Stadium, where they have come close to beating England in recent years.
So, England’s winning streak has been slightly halted in this WXV Global Series with their record 41-match unbeaten run. But they have already started another winning era and fans will have to watch this space for how long that continues with the knowledge that England will not play Canada or New Zealand until 2028 due to the inaugural British & Irish Lions women’s tour in 2027.
