{"id":809865,"date":"2026-10-22T02:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/809865\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T02:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:02:12","slug":"red-roses-drop-kildunne-to-bench-for-canada-rematch-as-mitchell-seeks-england-reset-england-womens-rugby-union-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/809865\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Roses drop Kildunne to bench for Canada rematch as Mitchell seeks England reset | England women’s rugby union team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ellie Kildunne has been dropped to the bench for England\u2019s third and final Test against Canada on Friday as the Red Roses look to bounce back from their first loss in four years.<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs defeated England 24-21 last Friday<\/a> to end the Red Roses\u2019 41-game unbeaten streak. Kildunne starting from the bench, with Emma Sing at full-back, is one of four changes the head coach, John Mitchell, has made to his starting XV for the Test in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe [Kildunne] adds huge value, she is just going through a difficult period at the moment,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to help her through that. She has to become consistent as well. She will get back. It is also important to create competition and to recognise that you have to become more consistent, especially when you are competing in the Red Roses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to reinforce the behaviours we think are necessary to our game. That goes for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last time Kildunne did not start for England was in the 2025 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland after she suffered a concussion in the previous match. Kildunne has started the nine games England have played so far in 2026 but last Friday she committed four knock-ons and Canada managed to stifle England\u2019s standout player.<\/p>\n

Sing will win her 18th cap for England, with her last start for her country coming against Italy in the Six Nations. In that match, which the Red Roses won 61-33<\/a> in Parma, the 25-year-old played at full-back with Kildunne starting on the wing.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideEngland team to face CanadaShow<\/p>\n

Sing; Breach, Jones (captain), Rowland, Venner; Harrison, Packer; Botterman, Cokayne, Bern, Talling, Campion, Burton, Kabeya, Feaunati<\/p>\n

Replacements Field, Carson, Muir, Short, Matthews, Robinson, Aitchison, Kildunne<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

The other changes see Sadia Kabeya starting ahead of Alex Matthews, who is on the bench, with Claudia Moloney-MacDonald and Tatyana Heard dropped from the matchday 23 as Mia Venner and Helena Rowland start.<\/p>\n

Of Moloney-MacDonald and Heard\u2019s reactions to being dropped, Mitchell added: \u201cTheir response has been outstanding. Both individuals have different cases, that is between myself and them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The captain, Meg Jones, added the team have had \u201chonest conversations\u201d as well as allowing players to \u201cfeel sad, happy or indifferent\u201d about the loss.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to The Breakdown<\/p>\n

The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have the opportunity to not be defined by the outcome [the loss last Friday] and really solidify where your two feet are and where you are is the most important. That is where you find courage and bravery to stick where you are in the present moment. That is going to be huge for us this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada lead the series against England after last Friday\u2019s defeat and the 26-26 draw at Exeter<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n

The Red Roses have travelled to Ottawa to take on Canada again and while it will be the final time they play their rivals in this WXV Global Series, England\u2019s matches do not end there. They face the USA on 30 October for their final match until the Women\u2019s Six Nations in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ellie Kildunne has been dropped to the bench for England\u2019s third and final Test against Canada on Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-809865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}