England Women 27 Canada 19: Red Roses taste victory at Castle Park

The Red Roses led 15-7 at the break, outscoring their opponents by three tries to one.

Hooker Lark Davies scored two of England's tries, with Poppy Cleall also going over while Alex Tessier's converted try on the stroke of half-time reduced the deficit.

Canada scored midway through the second half through Elissa Alarie but tries from Kelly Smith and Abbie Scott settled the game before Courtney Holtkamp's late consolation.

Davies' two tries earned her the player of the match and although she was happy with the result, she feels England can play better.  "Canada really brought the game to us and we had to find ways to score," said Davies. "To come away with the win is massive for us but we still have lots of learning to do.

"It was really physical, we knew they would be good athletes and perhaps our discipline wasn't as good as it could have been, but we are on a learning journey and to get the win is really good but we know we can be better."

Head coach Simon Middleton said: "It was really, really tough. Canada brought exactly what we thought they would, they were physical and fit and kept going to the end.

"It was a real test for us. We gave a lot of ball away, but among it all there were some really good performances and I thought the forwards were outstanding.

"We are a work in progress, the experience we had in the pack versus the inexperience we had in the backs showed today but the younger players will learn a lot from this. We talked of a squad effort and the finishers who came off the bench were outstanding."