England's Red Roses have made four changes to their starting XV for their game against Canada in Rugby's WXV Global Series. Experienced hooker Amy Cokayne, centre Tatyana Heard, loosehead prop Hannah Botterman and back-row Abi Burton are each brought in to start in Toronto by head coach John Mitchell. The Red Roses face Canada on Saturday a month after they were held to an entertaining 26-26 draw in Exeter, and having most-recently needed a try in the final play of the match to beat New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
To make way for the four alterations, centre Helena Rowland, hooker Bryony Field and prop Mackenzie Carson drop down to the replacements bench, while flanker Sadia Kabeya returns to the bench following a leg injury with Marlie Packer missing England's North American tour ahead of partner Rosie Galligan giving birth. Bristol Bears forward Demelza Short (20) features as a replacement for the first time in the WXV Global Series. The second Test will take place in front of a record crowd for a standalone women's rugby match in North America.
"The first Test in Exeter gave us a valuable opportunity to test our game under pressure and identify where we can improve," head coach John Mitchell said."As we continue to build towards 2029, our focus is on raising our level, strengthening our connections and continuing to evolve as a team."Playing in Toronto presents a different environment and challenge, and we're excited by the opportunity to express our game, improve our performance and continue to grow as the Red Roses. We're looking forward to the challenge of the second Test." England: 15 Ellie Kildunne, 14 Jess Breach, 13 Megan Jones (c), 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, 10 Zoe Harrison, 9 Lucy Packer; 1 Hannah Botterman, 2 Amy Cokayne, 3 Sarah Bern, 4 Morwenna Talling, 5 Lilli Ives Campion, 6 Abi Burton, 7 Alex Matthews, 8 Maddie Feaunati. Replacements: 16 Bryony Field, 17 Mackenzie Carson, 18 Maud Muir, 19 Demelza Short, 20 Sadia Kabeya, 21 Natasha Hunt, 22 Helena Rowland, 23 Emma Sing.
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