Red Roses drop Ellie Kildunne to bench for Canada rematch in Ottawa
Ellie Kildunne has been named among the replacements for England’s third and final Test against Canada in Ottawa on Friday, with head coach John Mitchell making changes to his starting XV after last Friday’s defeat.
Canada beat England 24-21 last Friday to end the Red Roses’ 41-game unbeaten run, a result that leaves Canada leading the series following a 26-26 draw at Exeter in September; England have travelled to Ottawa to meet Canada again and this will be their final WXV Global Series fixture against the same opponents.
Mitchell has made four changes to his backline, moving Emma Sing to full-back and dropping Kildunne from the starting XV; Gloucester-Hartpury’s Mia Venner is brought into the side to start on the wing in place of Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, and Venner will partner Jess Breach, who keeps her place after losing her first game for England on her 60th cap. Captain Meg Jones will start with Helena Rowland at centre in place of Tatyana Heard, who is not on the team sheet.
There is a single alteration in the forwards as Sadia Kabeya starts at openside flanker with Alex Matthews switching to the bench. The matchday selections named by Mitchell read: Sing; Breach, Jones (captain), Rowland, Venner; Harrison, Packer; Botterman, Cokayne, Bern, Talling, Campion, Burton, Kabeya, Feaunati Replacements Field, Carson, Muir, Short, Matthews, Robinson, Aitchison, Kildunne
Kildunne’s last absence from the starting line-up came in the 2025 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland after she suffered a concussion in the previous match; she had started the nine games England played so far in 2026 but, the report notes, she committed four knock-ons in last Friday’s match as Canada managed to stifle her impact. Sing will win her 18th cap; her most recent start came in the Six Nations win over Italy, a 61-33 victory in Parma in which she played at full-back while Kildunne started on the wing.
Mitchell said: “Friday is our first chance to respond. Last Friday, we lost sight of what we could control when it mattered most; that’s on us to fix. This week is about getting back to who we are: hungry, accountable to each other and demanding more of ourselves than anyone outside this group ever could.
“We’ve earned a strong period, but nothing about it is owed to us going forward. Friday is an opportunity to apply sustained pressure, learn from what we missed and come out the other side better than we went in.”
England’s schedule continues with a match against the USA on 30 October, which the Red Roses will treat as their final game until the Women’s Six Nations in April.