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England’s four-year grip on women’s international rugby ended in the damp Toronto night. Canada beat the Red Roses 24-21 at BMO Field on Friday, Shoshanah Seumanutafa’s 77th-minute try in the corner closing out a 41-match unbeaten run that had stretched back to the 2022 World Cup final. A record North American crowd of 18,621 watched the world’s top-ranked side lose for the first time since November 2022 — and watched Canada beat England on Canadian soil for the first time in the fixture’s history.
It was the second successive meeting in which Canada have taken something from England. Four weeks ago at Sandy Park, a 26-26 draw ended a 39-Test winning streak. This time Kévin Rouet’s side finished the job.
Canada Grind Down The Champions
England led 14-10 at the interval and looked, for a spell either side of half-time, like the team that had won the World Cup 13 months earlier. Maddie Feaunati crossed in the 32nd minute, Zoe Harrison added a second five minutes later, and when Sarah Bern — comfortably England’s best forward on the night — powered over in the 52nd minute, the Red Roses were in front and the scrum was bending Canada’s way.
What followed was a study in attrition. Savannah Bauder and Alysha Corrigan had kept Canada in touch in the first half; DaLeaka Menin, who scored twice in Exeter, barrelled over again in the 63rd minute. England, down to 14 for a period after Harrison was sin-binned, began to make the kind of errors they have not made in years: knock-ons in promising positions, turnovers conceded in contact, wings losing control of the ball over the line.
The tackle counts tell the story of how heavy it got. England made 218 tackles to Canada’s 165, and both sides missed more than 20. Sophie de Goede, the 2025 World Rugby women’s player of the year, led Canada with 20 tackles while directing the attack, and it was her carry — with Gabrielle Senft linking — that created the space for Seumanutafa to race down the touchline and dive over for the decisive score.
“There were lots of ups and downs throughout that game and we really had to grind it out and find a way,” said de Goede, who captained Canada having missed last month’s 21-5 defeat by France. “That’s kind of the DNA of our team and our group. I feel proud of the way that we found a way to win that game.”
A Streak, And What It Was Built On
The scale of what ended on Friday deserves stating plainly. England had not lost a Test since New Zealand beat them 34-31 in the 2022 World Cup final at Eden Park — a run of 41 matches comprising 40 wins and the Exeter draw, spanning four Six Nations titles, three WXV campaigns and the 2025 World Cup, won 33-13 against these same opponents in front of 81,885 at Allianz Stadium.
The historical context on Canada’s side is just as striking:
- It is Canada’s first win over England since 1 July 2016, a 52-17 victory in Salt Lake City
- It is only their fourth win in 42 meetings — and the first three all came in the United States
- No Canadian side had beaten England in Canada before Friday
- The 18,621 attendance is a stand-alone record for a women’s rugby match in North America, and Canada’s biggest home Test crowd in over a decade
“I told them as soon as you do it once, you want to do it twice,” Rouet said — a reference to Exeter, and a statement of intent for what comes next.
Warning Signs For John Mitchell
England’s selection invites scrutiny. Megan Jones captained a rotated side and had a quiet evening, inheriting the kicking tee during Harrison’s absence. Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, who scored twice in Exeter, knocked on while attempting to score, conceded two turnovers and missed four tackles. Jess Breach barely touched the ball. Morwenna Talling (18 tackles, 12 carries) and Hannah Botterman gave John Mitchell something, but the bench — historically England’s decisive weapon, the mechanism by which 60-minute leads became 20-point wins — failed to land a punch.
That is the genuine concern, rather than the result itself. Mitchell has spent this cycle widening his player pool deliberately, and depth tested is depth learned about. But a squad that cannot close out a three-point game in a hostile stadium has identified a problem it must solve well before the 2029 World Cup.
What It Means Going Forward
For Canada, third in the world rankings, this is validation rather than ambush. They pushed England to the limit in a World Cup final, drew with them in England and have now beaten them at home — across three meetings in 13 months, the gap has effectively closed. The two sides meet again on 23 October in Ottawa to conclude the Rugby Rematch Tour, and Canada will start that match with something no team has had against England in four years: recent evidence that it can be done.
For the wider game, a streak ending is not a crisis — it is arguably the healthiest thing to happen to women’s rugby since the 2025 World Cup. England’s invincibility was a commercial asset and a competitive problem. The WXV Global Series was built to create exactly these fixtures: 12 nations, cross-regional tours, meaningful Tests in the autumn window. On Friday in Toronto, in front of a record crowd, it delivered precisely what it was designed to produce.
Ahmad Ali is Sports Editor at SportsPortal.net.
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**Sources:**
– [CP24 — Canada pulls off upset against England](https://www.cp24.com/news/sports/2026/10/17/canada-pulls-off-upset-against-england-in-womens-rugby-snaps-41-game-unbeaten-streak/)
– [TSN — Canada beats top-ranked England in Toronto](https://www.tsn.ca/rugby/article/canada-beats-top-ranked-england-in-womens-rugby-match-in-toronto/)
– [RugbyPass — Talking points as Canada end England’s 41-match unbeaten streak](https://www.rugbypass.com/news/talking-points-as-canada-end-englands-41-match-unbeaten-streak-in-toronto/)
– [RugbyPass — Red Roses player ratings v Canada in Toronto](https://www.rugbypass.com/news/red-roses-player-ratings-v-canada-in-toronto-wxv-global-series-2026/)
– [Sky Sports — England 26-26 Canada](https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/news/12321/13589661/england-26-26-canada-red-roses-39-game-winning-streak-ended-in-thrilling-rugby-world-cup-final-repeat)
– [Wikipedia — History of women’s rugby union matches between Canada and England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women%27s_rugby_union_matches_between_Canada_and_England)
– [Wikipedia — WXV Global Series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WXV_Global_Series)
Two notes on the copy: the match was Friday 16 October (some aggregators date it 17 October), and Seumanutafa’s surname appears as “Semanutafa” in wire copy — I used the RugbyPass spelling. The World Cup final attendance figure (81,885) is from the 2025 final record and is the one detail I’d have an editor double-check against your house source before publication.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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