Sarah Bern insists England's back-to-back defeats will fuel a new era for the Red Roses

Sarah Bern arrived in New Jersey for England’s final WXV Global Series fixture of 2026 carrying an unfamiliar weight: back-to-back defeats to Canada that ended a 41-match unbeaten run stretching back to 2022 and marked the first time in ten years the Red Roses had lost successive Tests.

The prop, who will win her 90th cap against the USA Women’s Eagles at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Friday night, described the consecutive losses as “the elephant in the room” — but was equally clear that she sees them as a starting pistol rather than a warning sign.

“Canada had said, openly, that they had a game plan to beat us,” the 29-year-old said. “If you look at their year, they haven’t necessarily won every game they’ve played, but their game plan was to beat England and they’ve achieved that goal.”

Bern acknowledged that England’s consistency under head coach John Mitchell had, over time, made them readable. “We’ve been playing the same team for the last four years since Mitch has come in. We haven’t really changed too much of it. If you’re playing a team consistently over that period of time, you’re going to figure out where the holes are and how to beat it.”

Far from treating the defeats as a crisis, Bern reached for a training analogy to reframe them. “You go to the gym and you work to failure, right? Then you have a rest because that’s what achieves growth. If you look at some of the comments — ‘England are losing, this isn’t good’ — actually this is what’s going to achieve our growth.”

Bern was part of the England touring squad the last time the Red Roses lost back-to-back matches, in the Women’s Rugby Super Series in 2016, so she has a longer perspective than most on what such a moment can mean for a squad.

England will not play again for six months. When the 2027 Guinness Women’s Six Nations arrives, the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 champions will face fixtures at the Stadium of Light, Principality Stadium, Aviva Stadium, and Allianz Stadium, as well as hosting Italy at Franklin’s Gardens — a schedule that underlines just how much is at stake in the cycle ahead.

The ambition, Bern made clear, is to use this period of reflection to develop a new style of play capable of delivering consecutive World Cup titles. “I don’t really believe in ceilings,” she said — a sentiment that captures the mood of a squad that, even in defeat, appears to be thinking well beyond Friday night.