Kildunne dropped to England bench for Canada rematch
Ellie Kildunne has been dropped to the England bench for the return match against Canada in Ottawa. It is one of several changes after the Red Roses lost 24-21 to the same opponents in Toronto on 17 October.
That defeat ended England's unbeaten run at 41 matches, their first loss in four years. The run had included four successive Six Nations Grand Slams, which means winning all five games in the northern hemisphere's annual championship, and a World Cup title won on home soil the year before.
BBC Sport reports that Emma Sing replaces Kildunne at full-back, the player who stands furthest back and catches the high kicks. Sing has started two Six Nations matches in that position before, with Kildunne moving to the wing in each.
Helena Rowland comes in at inside centre, the midfield role that links the forwards to the outside backs. Mia Venner takes a place on the wing. Venner made her England debut in 2020 at 17, and she was joint top try-scorer in the Premiership Women's Rugby league last season with 12 tries.
Sadia Kabeya starts, with Alex Matthews moving to the bench. Tatyana Heard and Claudia Moloney-MacDonald are out of the matchday squad altogether. On the bench, Flo Robinson and Hollie Aitchison are named as half-back replacements. The half-backs are the scrum-half and fly-half, the pair who pass the ball from the pack to the back line.
Moloney-MacDonald's name carries a particular weight from Toronto. In the sixth minute she lost the ball as she tried to touch down over the line, and an early England try was ruled out after she was judged not to have grounded it cleanly, according to The Guardian. Canada's tries came from Savannah Bauder, Alysha Corrigan, DaLeaka Menin and Seumanutafa, with Sophie de Goede kicking two conversions. England scored through Maddie Feaunati, Zoe Harrison and Sarah Bern.
The match was played in front of 18,621 people at BMO Field, the biggest crowd for a women's rugby game in North America, The Guardian reported. Menin was named player of the match.
England head coach John Mitchell said his side had lost the hunger that fuelled their unbeaten run. That is a hard thing to hear, and a harder thing to fix in a week, but it is the task now facing a squad that has rarely lost in recent years.
Canada and England have now met three times this autumn. The first meeting, in Exeter, ended 26-26. Toronto was the second, and Ottawa is the third. Each game has been close, and each has been decided by small margins: a missed touch, a turnover, a single conversion.
For fans new to the women's game, the picture is simple. England went into Toronto as the strongest side in the world and came out with a loss. Ottawa is the chance to answer it.
