England player ratings: The ‘perfect’ starting debut for front-rower while ‘key orchestrator’ incredible again

England drew 26-26 with Canada in a thrilling game at Exeter Chiefs’ Sandy Park in World Rugby’s WXV1 on Saturday.

Here is how we rated the England team.

Backs

15 Ellie Kildunne: Stripped in her first attacking effort, she then kicked into typical Kildunne gear, assaulting the Canadian defence with added intensity each time and using her offloading abilities to great success. She beat eight defenders in total from a team-high of 17 carries. 8

14 Jess Breach: Dropped the ball on her first attack and then struggled to get into the game. Not the outing she would have liked, but she will be back next week. 4

13 Megan Jones: A quality opening quarter. She put a brilliant tactical kick to the corner to put Canada under pressure, linking up superbly with those around her to create space and break the opposition line. As the game went on, she faded slightly, but did pop up with the occasional bit of attacking magic. She remained particularly weak in defence, though, missing three tackles. 7

12 Helena Rowland: A relatively quiet showing, but she did make a nice break and put through a clever kick for what should have been a Claudia Moloney-MacDonald try. 6

11 Claudia Moloney-MacDonald: A couple of handling errors during key moments, but otherwise she was excellent. Scored England’s opener and later touched down again after a brilliant arcing run down the right-hand side. 7

10 Zoe Harrison: The superlatives never cease for England’s playmaker – from her over-the-top pass to set up Moloney-MacDonald for the opening try, to her 50:22 from her own 10-metre line, she was the key orchestrator in the attack. 8

9 Lucy Packer: A couple of wayward passes but generally reliable enough, choosing to trust her half-back partner with the running duties while she distributed. Defensively poor, however, missing four tackles overall. 5

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Forwards

8 Alex Matthews: An industrious display, often requiring multiple Canadian defenders to halt her during her impressive charges. 7

7 Sadia Kabeya: Did the hard yards around the ruck and helped slow down the Canadian attack well. No complaints here. 6

6 Abi Burton: Made some huge ruck clear-outs and really put her body on the line in defence. 7

5 Lilli Ives Campion: Brilliant in the lineout and defensively superb. Was turned over a couple of times though, which she will not be pleased about. 6

4 Morwenna Talling: A brilliant performance from the lock, making 14 carries and 15 tackles, as well as being a key target in the lineout. 8

3 Maud Muir: Made more of a defensive impact than an attacking one, but when she did get the ball in hand, she used her powerful frame to great success, battering through defenders to give England a solid attacking platform. 7

2 Bryony Field: It was her first start for the Red Roses, but you certainly would not have been able to tell. Her lineout throws were faultless, she made a game-high 18 tackles and scored her second try for the national side. The perfect starting debut. 10

1 Hannah Botterman: The ever-recognisable prop was incredibly powerful in the carry, scrummed well and showed some smooth hands. Rewarded with a great try from close range towards the end of the first half. Removed in the 50th minute with what looked like an injury. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious. 8

Replacements: The bench put all the pressure on in the final few minutes, but it just wasn’t enough. Maddie Feaunati made some powerful runs, Marlie Packer was heavily involved and May Campbell made a huge turnover win, but Canada held on to the draw. 7

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