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England’s Red Roses were given perhaps their biggest test of this World Cup cycle but showed they were up to the challenge as they clinched a second successive WXV1 title by “winning ugly” to beat Canada in Vancouver.
Both teams came into the game two from two, and Canada showed why they are now ranked second in the world as they led 12-7 with 15 minutes remaining.
However, tries from Sarah Bern and Zoe Aldcroft allowed England to emerge 21-12 winners, making it 20 matches unbeaten since the last World Cup final but with the side finally given a proper examination as preparations continue for next year’s home World Cup.
And having seen his team pushed as hard as they have been since he took over as coach, John Mitchell was delighted at the way they battled to the end to come away with the win.
He said: “We talked to the girls last night about this game taking 80 minutes. I'm not often right but it took that.
"That's a testament to Canada, they are a good side, they have got good athletes and a particular, simple way to play that is very effective for them.
"I think we won ugly and sometimes you have to do that. It was a proper Test match and that's good for us. We'll take a lot from it.
“To me, I thought last week would take a bit out of us emotionally. We had a short turnaround, we put a lot into the New Zealand match (a 49-31 win) and it was hot. So with a short turnaround, I was a little bit curious about how we would bounce back.
"They beat us to the race early in the match, but I think we beat them to the race later in the match.”
Canada enjoyed a perfect start with Justine Pelletier getting over after just four minutes, but England hit back to lead 7-5 at the break thanks to Maud Muir’s converted score.
With Ellie Kildunne in the sin-bin, Canada retook the lead as Alex Tessier finished off a fine move.
But England have spoken a lot about the impact of their bench – nicknamed the ‘Super Eight’ – and that proved crucial as they survived a second yellow card, this time for Bo Westcombe-Evans, as Bern restored England’s lead before Aldcroft sealed the win with the final play.
Skipper Marlie Packer was understandably thrilled at the result, which puts England in a strong position, one year out from a World Cup on home soil.
She said: “The girls have been awesome in the last 12 weeks, pre-season running into this tournament. We said we wanted to attack this tournament, it wasn't about regaining this trophy, it was about winning it. That is what we did.
"There were times where we had to dig deep but we showed real character as a squad. The Super Eight came off the bench and did a fantastic job for us.”
