Canada beat England 24-21 in women's rugby Test, ending England's unbeaten run

Canada beat England 24-21 in a women's rugby Test in Toronto. Shoshanah Seumanutafa scored a try in the closing minutes to win the match. BBC Sport and The Guardian both report these facts.

The defeat ended England's unbeaten run. The run lasted about four years and began after the 2022 Rugby World Cup final.

Match details

According to BBC Sport, the match was part of the WXV Global Series and Seumanutafa's try came in the 77th minute. The Guardian says the try came "with two minutes left".

According to The Guardian, England's unbeaten run covered 41 games. The Guardian also reports that Canada had already ended England's winning streak with a 26-26 draw in Exeter the previous month.

The Guardian reports that the match was played at BMO Field in front of 18,621 spectators. It describes this as a record North American crowd for a women's rugby game. According to the outlet, Canada's previous home game was in August 2025. The reports do not cite an official governing-body statement for the 41-game figure or the attendance record.

The Guardian gives this account of the scoring:

• An early England score by Claudia Moloney-MacDonald was ruled out because she did not have clean grounding.
• England's Zoe Harrison received a yellow card. While Canada had the extra player, Savannah Bauder scored in the corner.
• Canada's Laetitia Royer was sent to the sin bin for being offside.
• England scored first-half tries through Maddie Feaunati, about 30 minutes into the match, and Harrison. England led 14-5 at half-time.
• In the second half, Alysha Corrigan scored for Canada, Sarah Bern for England and DaLeaka Menin for Canada. Two points separated the teams before Seumanutafa's try.

According to The Guardian, Menin was named player of the match. The outlet says Jess Breach, who has played 60 games for England, lost for the first time in an England shirt. It also reports that John Mitchell had not lost a match as England head coach before this game.

The reports do not include a full scoring breakdown, such as conversions or penalties.

What each side says

The Guardian quoted Mitchell as saying: "We are disappointed by the result but there are some very good things in our performance tonight." He also said: "We are not driven by outcome." According to The Guardian, he believes his team will learn more from this loss than from their wins. The reports do not say how or where his remarks were obtained.

Before the matches, Canada scrum-half Olivia Apps said Canada had been doing everything they could in 2026 to make it possible to beat England, according to The Guardian, which paraphrased her statement. The reports do not include post-match comments from Canada's coach or players.

According to The Guardian, the two teams are due to play each other again in a week's time.

Analysis

The result ends a long unbeaten period for England. It also follows a draw between the same teams the previous month, according to The Guardian. Together, these results may suggest a narrowing gap between the two sides. However, two matches are a small sample. The rematch, due in a week according to The Guardian, offers another test. England could respond as Mitchell suggests, by learning from the loss. Canada could build on home support. Either outcome is possible. The reported record crowd, if confirmed by official figures, may also be relevant to discussions about the growth of women's rugby in North America.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.