Rugby Canada – Defending World Champions England defeat Canada 27-20 in New Zealand in second match of three-game New Zealand tour on Road to 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup; Canada to face Australia on Friday

CHRISTCHURCH, N.Z. (June 12, 2017) — Canada’s senior women fell 27-20 to England Monday in their second game of the International Women’s Rugby Series in New Zealand.

Canada got tries from Carolyn McEwen and Karen Paquin while Magali Harvey kicked ten points.

“We definitely stepped it up but it’s still not enough,” captain Kelly Russell said. “We need to play the full 80 minutes and we need to fight for 80 minutes.

“We kept ball in our hand, we’ve got some fast players out there and you saw the kind of tempo we want to play. It’s just keeping consistent and keep the ball as we do damage when we have the ball in hand.”

Trailing 15-10 at half time, Canada grabbed its first lead in the 51^st minute after a piece of magic from Karen Paquin who intercepted a pass and ran the length of the field to give Canada the lead after Harvey’s conversion.

However, Canada’s lead was short-lived as Lydia Thompson, who had a try in the first half, danced her way through the Canadian defence to score under the posts and restore the England advantage to 22-17.

Harvey’s 59^th minute penalty cut the deficit to 22-20 but Canada wouldn’t get closer as only a minute later Kay Wilson scored in the corner after Emily Scarratt had broken through the Canadian line.

Canada piled on the pressure in the dying minutes and despite sustained pressure inside the English 22, they couldn’t find a breakthrough.

“We want to end high and on a good performance and something we can be really proud of,” Russell said. “Today was a step in that direction and hopefully we can finish it off well against Australia.”

England opened the scoring in the 11^th minute with a deadly counter attack from a Canadian scrum as Scarratt found daylight to break into the Canadian half before Abbie Scott touched down a few phases later.

Harvey notched her first points of the day to cut the lead to 7-3 in the 18^th minute before England got its first try of the night through Thompson.

McEwen’s try got Canada back in the game, cutting the score to 12-10, before a Scarratt’s penalty gave England a 15-10 lead at the break.

Canada concludes its IRWS tournament Friday at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT LIVE on www.worldrugby.org against Australia in their final game before the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Canada’s Roster vs. England (Name, club, hometown):

1. Carolyn McEwen, Burnaby Lake Rugby Club (Vancouver, BC)

2. Laura Russell, Toronto Nomads/Cowichan RFC (Bolton, ON)

3. DaLeaka Menin, Hornets (Vulcan, AB)

4. Tyson Beukeboom, Aurora Barbarians/Cowichan RFC (Uxbridge, ON) 

5. Kayla Mack, Saskatoon Wild Oats (Saskatoon, SK) 

6. Jacey Grusnick, Barrhaven Scottish (Alliston, ON)

7. Karen Paquin, Club de Rugby de Quebec/Castaway Wanderers (Quebec City, QC)

8. Kelly Russell, captain Toronto Nomads/Cowichan RFC (Bolton, ON) 

9. Lori Josephson, Aurora Barbarians (Beaverton, ON) 

10. Alex Tessier, Montreal Barbarians (Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, QC) 

11. Elissa Alarie, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue RFC/Westshore RFC (Trois Rivieres, QC) 

12. Emily Belchos, Westshore RFC (Innisfil, ON) 

13.Amanda Thornborough, Westshore RFC (Brandon, MB) 

14. Magali Harvey, Town of Mont-Royal RFC (Quebec City, QC) 

15. Julianne Zussman, Castaway Wanderers (Montreal, QC)

16. Kristy Sargent, Leprechaun Tigers (Edmonton, AB) 

17. Brittany Kassil, Guelph Redcoats (Guelph, ON)

18. Olivia DeMerchant, Woodstock Wildmen/Castaway Wanderers (Mapledale, NB)

19. Cindy Nelles, Belleville Bulldogs (Belleville, ON) 

20. Barbara Mervin, Westshore RFC (Peterborough, ON)

21. Chelsea Guthrie, Stratchona Druids (Edmonton, AB)

22. Brittany Waters, Meraloma Athletic Club/Castaway Wanderers (Vancouver, BC)

23. Frederique Rajotte, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue RFC (Montreal, QC)

Unavailable due to Injury:

Latoya Blackwood, Westshore RFC (Montreal, QC) 

Andrea Burk, Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC) 

Coaching Staff:

Francois Ratier- Head Coach

Shaun Allen- Assistant Coach

Colette McAuley- Technical Support

Nicole Crowley- Manager

Nicole Ainsworth- Athletic Therapist

Nicole Allen- Athletic Therapist

James Kent- Analyst

Scoring Details:

Canada:

Tries: Carolyn McEwen, Karen Paquin

Conversions: Magali Harvey (2)

Penalties: Magali Harvey (2)

England:

Tries: Lydia Thompson (2), Abbie Scott, Kay Wilson

Conversions: Emily Scarratt (2)

Penalties: Emily Scarratt

International Women’s Rugby Series Schedule:

Friday, 9 June – Wellington

Black Ferns 28-16 Canada

Australia 10-53 England

Tuesday, 13 June – Christchurch 

Canada 20-27 England

Black Ferns vs. Australia

Saturday, 17 June – Rotorua 

Black Ferns vs. England

Australia vs. Canada

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Bryan Kelly  I  Manager, Communications and Media Relations  I  Rugby Canada  I  3024 Glen Lake Road  I Langford, British Columbia, Canada V9B 4B4  I  Tel. 250.418.8998 ext. 314  I  Fax 250.386.3810  I Cell. 250.216.5272 | bkelly@rugbycanada.ca I www.rugbycanada.ca