Jones insists Red Roses are 'not broken' after second straight defeat to Canada

England suffered a 31-22 defeat to Canada at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, their second consecutive Test loss to the same side and the first time the Red Roses have lost back-to-back matches since 2016.

Tries from Sophie de Goede, Julia Omokhuale, DaLeaka Menin and Savannah Bauder sealed the win for Canada, who are now unbeaten across all three meetings with England in this year’s WXV Global Series. The sequence began with a 26-all draw in Exeter in September, followed by a 24-21 Canada victory in Toronto last week.

Captain Meg Jones, who played the full 80 minutes in the Canadian capital, was measured but candid in her assessment afterwards. “We just needed to respond a bit better,” she said. “Credit to Canada — what an excellent, excellent team they are. They stick to their process and it pulled through today.”

Jones was firm in pushing back against any suggestion of a deeper malaise within the squad. “We’re not broken. We just need to grow from it. I think that’s our performance mindset. We’ve got to stick with it.”

The results have forced England to confront uncomfortable questions about the gap between themselves and the chasing pack. The Red Roses have long maintained that winning by large margins is not a priority, but consecutive defeats to Canada suggest the rest of the world has closed ground on the top-ranked side.

Jones framed the difficult schedule as a deliberate choice. “We’ve got to play the best to know where we’re at, get tested as much as we can, and then, in three years’ time, when we’ve got the World Cup again, we can keep going towards that.”

England have one remaining opportunity to end the tour on a positive note, facing the USA Women’s Eagles in New Jersey. The Eagles, coached by Jack Hanratty, arrive in strong form having gone unbeaten in their last four Tests, and will also face Italy in Nashville before that fixture. England will need a significant improvement to avoid a third successive defeat on the tour.