By: The Associated Press Posted:
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — No. 1-ranked England suffered consecutive defeats for the first time in a decade after it was beaten by Canada 31-22 in WXV women's rugby late Friday.
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OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — No. 1-ranked England suffered consecutive defeats for the first time in a decade after it was beaten by Canada 31-22 in WXV women's rugby late Friday.
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OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — No. 1-ranked England suffered consecutive defeats for the first time in a decade after it was beaten by Canada 31-22 in WXV women’s rugby late Friday.
Canada doubled down on its historic 24-21 win in Toronto last week with sustained defensive pressure and a withering three-try burst in nine minutes around the hour mark.
The Canadians have been the bane of England’s existence for the past five weeks, responsible for ending the Red Roses’ record 39-win streak in a 26-26 draw in Exeter, stopping their 41-match unbeaten run in Toronto, and now starting their first losing streak since July 2016.
“It’s so amazing. It shows we can consistently perform at this level and now we just need to do it for another two, three years to the next World Cup (in 2029 in Australia),” Canada captain Sophie de Goede said.
Despite conceding five scrum penalties, Canada’s defense forced constant errors by world champion England in front of 13,117 spectators.
“We’re not broken, we just need to grow from this,” England captain Meg Jones said.
England got the ideal start from a try between the posts by No. 8 Maddie Feaunati, but was quickly overtaken by Canada tries to flanker Julia Omokhuale from a tap penalty and de Goede, a gift from Gabrielle Senft.
England then lost four straight balls in contact in the Canada half and Sarah Bern was held up over the tryline to leave Canada leading 12-7 at halftime.
England moved ahead 17-12 after a 20-meter rolling maul try for Amy Cokayne but Canada then struck three times. De Goede scored her second bounding over a ruck, prop DaLeaka Menin scored in a lineout drive, and fullback Savannah Bauder stepped two defenders in a 55-meter solo try to make it 31-17.
England kept coughing up possession and couldn’t reply until there were seconds left.
In Whangarei, Braxton Sorensen-McGee, who turns 20 on Monday, settled a 31-12 win by New Zealand against France with a 75-meter counterattack try with 10 minutes left on Saturday. France was far tougher than in the 81-12 defeat in Hamilton last week and the Black Ferns pulled away late.
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