# Mitchell Drops Kildunne as Red Roses Chase Canada Response Source: SportsBriefly (https://sportsbriefly.com) Canonical URL: https://sportsbriefly.com/en/rugby/mitchell-drops-kildunne-as-red-roses-chase-canada-response-2026-10-21-w95xon Language: en Published: 2026-10-21T15:13:26.166+00:00 Updated: 2026-10-21T15:13:26.228234+00:00 > England's head coach benches his biggest star, naming four changes to the starting XV for Friday night's WXV Global Series rematch in Ottawa — six days after Canada ended the Red Roses' 41-match unbeaten run. ## TL;DR - Ellie Kildunne, the 2024 world player of the year, has been dropped to the bench for England's WXV Global Series rematch with Canada in Ottawa on Friday night. - Head coach John Mitchell has made four changes after Canada's 24-21 win in Toronto ended England's 41-match unbeaten run, their first defeat in four years. - Emma Sing starts at full-back, Mia Venner comes in on the wing, Helena Rowland returns at inside centre and Sadia Kabeya starts at openside flanker. ## Key points - Ellie Kildunne benched for the first time in her Red Roses career as Mitchell shakes up the back three. - Four changes: Emma Sing (full-back), Mia Venner (wing), Helena Rowland (inside centre) and Sadia Kabeya (openside) come into the starting XV. - Alex Matthews also drops to the bench; Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, Tatyana Heard and Natasha Hunt miss out entirely. - Canada ended England's 41-match unbeaten streak 24-21 in Toronto last Friday, in front of a record 18,621 crowd. - Canada also drew 26-26 at Sandy Park four weeks earlier, ending England's 38-game winning run. - Kick-off in Ottawa is 00:10 BST on Saturday 24 October (19:10 ET Friday); England then close out WXV against the USA in New Jersey. England have dropped their biggest star. Ellie Kildunne, the 2024 world player of the year and the breakout face of the Red Roses' 2025 Rugby World Cup triumph on home soil, has been named on the bench for Friday night's WXV Global Series rematch with Canada in Ottawa. ![Emma Sing, the Red Roses full-back who replaces Kildunne](https://dcwdppdscydjemfvownz.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1792595598117-ofl5oj-rugby-inside1-2026-10-21-evening.jpg) Head coach John Mitchell announced four changes to his starting XV on Wednesday, six days after Canada's 24-21 victory at BMO Field in Toronto ended England's 41-match unbeaten run — the Red Roses' first defeat in four years. The move at full-back is the most eye-catching. Gloucester-Hartpury's Emma Sing takes over from Kildunne, whose omission is as much a statement of intent as it is a selection call. Mitchell insisted the 27-year-old remains central to England's plans, even as he backed his squad's depth to restore order after a bruising night in Toronto. ![Ellie Kildunne breaks through the Canada defence](https://dcwdppdscydjemfvownz.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1792595602425-xp2u54-rugby-inside2-2026-10-21-evening.webp) "She adds huge value," Mitchell said. "She's just going through a difficult period at the moment. It's important for us to help her through that. She wants to become consistent as well and she'll get back. It's also important to create competition and to recognise that you have to become more consistent, especially when you're competing in the Red Roses. It's really important to reinforce the behaviours that we think are necessary to our game. And that goes for everyone." There was no hiding place for England's back three after the Toronto defeat. Kildunne played the full 80 minutes last weekend and finished as England's leading ball-carrier, topping the team's metres chart, but she also coughed up possession more often than any other player in red — the kind of unforced generosity Mitchell has decided England can no longer afford against the World Cup runners-up. Jess Breach is the only member of the starting back three to survive. Mia Venner comes in on the left wing after a prolific domestic season, and Helena Rowland returns at inside centre in place of Tatyana Heard. Venner's selection rewards a 12-try haul in last season's Premier Women's Rugby campaign, while Rowland offers the dual threat of playmaking vision and goal-kicking reliability. The final alteration comes in the pack, where Sadia Kabeya returns at openside flanker following a leg injury. Alex Matthews, another mainstay of the 2025 World Cup run, drops to the replacements alongside Kildunne. Claudia Moloney-MacDonald and Tatyana Heard fall out of the matchday 23 altogether, while Natasha Hunt is also omitted, with Flo Robinson preferred as the scrum-half cover and Sale Sharks back Holly Aitchison recalled to the bench. Sing's promotion is no act of charity. The Gloucester-Hartpury full-back started twice at number 15 during this year's Six Nations campaign and has a reputation as one of the sharpest young kickers in the English game. Mitchell's selection suggests a desire for positional security and kicking balance in the backfield — precisely the qualities some supporters felt were missing as Canada repeatedly turned England's backfield loose in Toronto. "Friday is our first chance to respond," Mitchell said. "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." The context of this rematch is what makes it such compelling theatre. Canada did not just end England's 41-match unbeaten streak in Toronto; four weeks earlier they had already ended the Red Roses' 38-game winning run with a 26-26 draw at Sandy Park in Exeter. In the space of a month, England have twice come up short against the same opposition for the first time in the Mitchell era. Toronto's crowd of 18,621 was the largest ever recorded for a standalone women's rugby fixture in North America — a measure of how far the fixture has come since these sides contested the 2025 World Cup final. England won that day, and they remain world champions, but the gap between the top two sides in the women's game has narrowed to a knife-edge. Canada's physical, fearless style has become the blueprint others will follow. For Mitchell, whose Red Roses side have dominated the women's game for the better part of four years, the Ottawa Test is a test of his own adaptability as much as his players'. Dropping a global superstar is the surest way to announce that no reputation is being rested on. The selection will divide opinion — supporters have already begun debating the call online, with many welcoming a specialist full-back at 15 while others questioned how the team's most dangerous runner could lose her place. History suggests the response will be emphatic. England's last defeat before this one came so long ago that the current squad's entire identity has been built around invincibility. How they handle being hunted rather than hunting is the defining question of the WXV Global Series finale. After Ottawa, the Red Roses close out the tournament against the United States in New Jersey. Friday night's kick-off is at 00:10 BST on Saturday 24 October — 19:10 Eastern Time in Ottawa. For a world champion side coming off its first defeat in four years, and for a generational talent asked to start her fightback from the bench, the stakes could hardly be higher. Mentions: Ellie Kildunne, John Mitchell, Emma Sing, Mia Venner, Helena Rowland, Sadia Kabeya, Alex Matthews, England Red Roses, Canada, Ottawa, BMO Field Toronto, WXV Global Series ## Sources - [ruck.co.uk](https://www.ruck.co.uk/rugby-news/ellie-kildunne-has-been-dropped-by-england-heres-why) - [britainsnews.co.uk](https://britainsnews.co.uk/article/kildunne-drops-to-bench-as-red-roses-ring-changes) - [rugbypass.com](https://www.rugbypass.com/news/john-mitchell-makes-major-selection-call-as-red-roses-target-canada-response/)