Red Roses discover there is life after the maul

In a match starved of oxygen with its low-key billing on a live-stream, England quietly began plotting their path towards a home World Cup in two years’ time with a comprehensive victory over Canada at Sandy Park.

The 50-24 scoreline somewhat flattered England, who were guilty of sloppiness at the breakdown and at times lacked match sharpness.

But they showed an exciting endeavour to diversify their attack and looked a shadow of the side that has overly relied on its motoring maul in recent years.

“Our forward game is still part of our DNA. We just want to have more of a balanced game, have a plan A and plan B when we need to,” said Louis Deacon, England’s interim head coach, who admitted his side were looking to add extra strings to their game.

As the Red Roses fine-tune their preparations for WXV, the new global competition which gets underway next month, they are learning that there is life after their moving white missile.

‌Embracing more of an unstructured game

At last year’s World Cup in New Zealand, England steamrolled every team they played with their ferocious maul. It was used to devastating effect, but by the time they faced New Zealand in the final, the Black Ferns had sussed out England’s main method of attack and effectively neutralised it.

New Zealand are a team that thrives off an unstructured game and the Red Roses were unable to match their unpredictability. If they are to win the World Cup in 2025, England will need more in their armoury than simply their maul and at Sandy Park we were treated to a side that is in the throes of diversifying their attack.

They are on a mission to play a more unstructured game from the boot and Helena Rowland’s two tries were a snapshot of how England are trying to integrate kicking a lot more into their attack.

Holly Aitchison’s crossfield kick set up Rowland’s opener while Meg Jones’ grubber in the build up to the outside centre’s second score near the end, helped by a stunning inside pass from Claudia MacDonald, was a rare example of how the Red Roses are looking to put boot to ball more, rather than a blood-and-thunder attack through the middle.

‌Maisy Allen diversifies England’s back row options

For a 15-minute period at the start of the second half, Canada successfully stopped England from stretching their 31-12 lead. The marked drop off in the intensity was to be expected for a first hit-out since their Grand Slam success at the end of May and Deacon confirmed afterwards his side had come into the contest “fatigued” from being pushed during the week.

But if their match sharpness was found lacking, the introduction of debutant Maisie Allen, Jones and MacDonald on the hour mark injected a fresh energy into the Red Roses’ attack. Jones and MacDonald were real livewires when they entered the fray and were used to great effect in the wider channels, while Allen crashed over on debut.

A former England Under-20 captain, the Exeter Chiefs forward will only add competition in an already crammed back row which is currently missing Alex Matthews and Sadia Kabeya, as England continue adapting without Sarah Hunter.

‌Ellie Kildunne flies at full-back

The Red Roses’ best playmaker on the day enjoyed her finest performance in an England shirt. Abby Dow and Tatyana Heard fed off Kildunne’s energy in attack, while her footwork for her brace of tries was a thing of beauty.

But it was Kildunne’s ability in the contact area which was most pleasing. “I’ve been massively impressed with her because that wasn’t a strength of hers previously,” said Deacon. “Some of the tackles she was making as well – she was winning collisions – and had an outstanding game.”

‌What next? Mop up the messy moments

As the women’s game continues to straddle both spheres of professionalism and elite amateurism – even when it comes to the No 1 and No 4 ranked sides in the world – context is important when assessing any Red Roses performance.

England have been together in camp since July and have had weeks to prepare for this fixture. Canada, a nation that rarely plays Tests, only convened at Sandy Park last week. Their preparation was further disrupted when their Exeter hotel was partially flooded by heavy rain shortly after their arrival.

That they scored four tries against England was a testament to the hugely athletic side that they are, despite the fact two of their tries looked forward in the build up. They were afforded such opportunities as a result of England’s messiness at the breakdown, which allowed the game to become loose. Both teams will meet again next Saturday at the StoneX Stadium.