England have made sweeping changes to their starting line-up for Saturday's rematch against Canada in Ottawa, following their first defeat in four years. Star full-back Ellie Kildunne is dropped to the bench, with Emma Sing coming in at full-back in her place.
Tatyana Heard and Claudia Moloney-Mac Donald, both backline starters in the defeat, are left out of the matchday squad entirely. Helena Rowland and Mia Venner replace Heard and Moloney-Mac Donald at inside centre and wing respectively. In the fourth change to the starting line-up, Sadia Kabeya, who came off the bench last week on her comeback from a leg injury, starts, with two-time Rugby World Cup winner Alex Matthews dropping to the bench.
Exeter's Flo Robinson and Sale's Hollie Aitchison are included among the replacements as a new-look set of half-backs. Sing, a rangy runner who can also kick goals, started two matches at full-back during England's Six Nations campaign, with Kildunne switching to the wing on each occasion. Sing's Gloucester-Hartpury team-mate Venner made her England debut in 2020 aged just 17 and has won four more caps since, appearing in wins over Scotland and Italy earlier this year. The 24-year-old was the PWR's joint top try-scorer last season, crossing 12 times.
Moloney-Mac Donald cost her side an early try in the defeat by Canada when she spilled the ball over the line in the sixth minute, having done superbly to pick up Jess Breach's pass off her toes. England coach Mitchell said: "We've earned a strong period but nothing about it is owed to us going forward." She added that the match is an opportunity to apply sustained pressure, learn from what was missed and come out the other side better.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing