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PENALTY! Canada 12-18 England (Scarratt, 43′)
It is done! A six-point cushion, but more will be needed. 42 mins: England are patient on the ball and win a penalty on the take down, England are showing the sticks – they know how important every point will be. 41 min: Rowland has made great strides in England’s early attack, cracking the full-backs so far and the team now running in phases. Bern gets some vital tackles, but so far Canada is once again doing well on defense.
Back to progress! Canada 12-15 England
So we are 40 minutes away from finding out one of the teams in the final! A lot of people have been talking about whether Canada will be able to match England in fitness and I hope they can. A toe to toe contest for the full 80 would be so delicious! Who do you think will win this fight? I honestly can’t call it and I’d love to hear what you think, you can reach me via Twitter and email. Just check out this effort, magic in motion:
Half time: Canada 12-15 England
Well, this is close to the best game of the tournament so far. England raced into a 12-0 lead but Canada fought back with two fine tries. All that remains is to play. What a match!
PENALTY! Canada 12-15 England (Scarratt, 40′)
And it’s over! This is the half, what an exciting half. 39 mins: After a throw-in, Canada get it going, but they’re under huge pressure, England looking to respond before the break. Grant kicks but England have it and look for their third. Scarratt makes a big break to put them at 22 and here they go through the phases. England have the penalty and are debating whether to go for a corner or a post. Go for posts! Laughter to come. 37 mins: There’s a break in the game but we’re on once again, a clash with Canada is coming. 37 mins: It’s worth noting that Canada are an amateur outfit, the only non-professional semi-finalists. And they go toe-to-toe with the world’s number one side. England look to fight back but Hurd strikes.
TRY IT! Canada 12-12 England (Corrigan, 35′)
Canada opts for the maul again and what an amazing job! They march at least 15 meters and England are drunk again. The ref has a word with Hunter warning her about those penalties piling up. Tessier kicks for a corner, another try looks imminent. Canada play England at their own game as they go for the maul again, this time great defending from England to stop the maul charge. The Red Roses need to keep their defense up though and Canada is so close. They run it wide and Corrigan is out. Do Goede adds the extras and we’re level! Updated at 04.09 GMT 33 mins: Canada have another clear line-out and now they’re the ones to use the drive. Matthews is adjudged to have taken it down and Tessier kicks, but without gaining much yardage. Canada’s line-out is good and they are now in the hunt for their second try. 31 min: Canada were going through the motions and were a little off target but the play was stopped by the referee as there was a neck turn by Canada – not sure which player was not clear on the replay. Harrison clears England’s lines. The line-out is sloppy from England as Packer loses it and it’s Canada who are on the attack here. Kaljuvee goes for a kick but Dow catches and calls the mark. 29 mins: Canada have the scrum and are away with it, kick off and England have it. But now it is England who will be charged! Canada can’t hit the loose ball and Harrison takes it into the stands. A Canadian line-out in a great position, it was slightly loose, but they manage. 27 min: Hunt overturned at the breakdown, great save from the Canadian. There is free time as players get some pampering and some water. Well, how incomplete is this! 26 min: Aldcroft wins the penalty in the takedown and Harrison heads the ball for a corner. Will the driving pencil come into action now? The line-out from Cokayne is clear, but they decide to run it. Ward thinks she has it over the line but impressive defending sees the ball held! A missed goal line by Canada makes it halfway and England are on the attack again. 24 mins: England clear the ball and Harrison is sent off. The TMO checks if it was 50:22 and it is! England’s line-out is good and they decide to run it. Harrison cleanly unloads on Rowland to make it 22. 22 mins: Canada have another scrum and are away with it, fast and firing. But they strike and England will have it set now. The effort from Paquin has awakened the Canadian beast, this match will be delicious!
TRY IT! Canada 5-12 England (Paquin, 19′)
I have no words for how amazing this was. It’s a clean scrum from both sides, but Pelletier gets the ball quickly and rattles it. He was joking to trick MacDonald and Paquin was in! Impressive. Updated at 03:50 GMT 18 mins: Dow will take credit for finishing but Rowland laid all the groundwork there. Harrison clears with a kick on the halfway line and Tutosi will want a clean line-out here. But it’s loose again and England want to attack once more. However, Rowland’s pass to MacDonald is not clinical and Canada opt for the scrum.
TRY IT! Canada 0-12 England (Dow, 15′)
England get it back and Rowland makes a fantastic break! He unloads on the Dow that spreads, Middleton fist pumps! Scarratt misses the kick narrowly and bounces off the post. Updated at 03:46 GMT 14 mins: Canada’s first line-out of the match is loose and Infante is off. A great save from Dow takes England to 22 and brings them from Cornborough and Aldcroft closer. Harrison takes a kick, an interesting choice as England were going through the motions and a try felt imminent, and Canada clear. 12 mins: England recover on the restart but the opening game is back, it looks like it will be a key part of this match. The Red Roses play out but Harrison gets the boot and Tessier gathers and clears. Works well for Canada but Hurd knocks down a kick from Tessier and England surge forward again. Harrison’s passing is loose though – it’s frantic at the moment!
TRY IT! Canada 0-7 England (Packer, 8′)
A return to the scrum eventually leads England to call it off. Rowland’s dancing feet see her spread the ball wide, she eventually passes to Scarratt and makes contact. They were playing the advantage though and Harrison kicks in the corner. A clean line-out and driving maul gives them another try! Scarratt adds the extras. Updated at 03:39 GMT 6 mins: Canada doing very well to make sure they don’t give it away and clear their lines. England go through the players as they attack with a gentle charge from Scarratt to Hurd. Harrison makes her own dummy and it’s almost wide and England close. But, unfortunately, we will have to wait for the first attempt of the match. A loose pass from Ward to Packer is loose but England had the advantage, the Red Roses clawing to come. 4 mins: Pelletier attempts a dummy but is well read by the English defence. And it’s an amazing effort from England who win it back, but Canada win it back quickly! Wow what a start to this match. The Red Roses turn it over once again and Rowland brings the game once again. Kick from Harrison is great and England pin Canada in their own 22. 2 mins: A great kick-off from Canada sees the team break away and run into the early stages doors. The kicking game comes into play and the ball is lost to Emily Scarratt, who hits, an oncoming Canadian scrum. The set piece will be interesting as Canada can match the Red Roses up front. It’s a clean scrum and Canada got away with it and moved the ball wide, a really good start from them.
Inception! Canada 0-0 England
Here you go! Who will win their last place? England are favourites, but Canada can upset… The players are out and the anthems will be streaming in full shortly! Anyone else nervous? Knockout Rugby can challenge anything! England manager Simon Middleton did not take kindly to some criticism of his side’s reliable driving. Many tries are scored by the England forwards, six of the seven scored against Australia were by the forwards and once again commented on the issue ahead of the semi-final. He said: “We know what our game looks like. We are confident that we have the game we need to get the performance we want. I think New Zealand have a bigger problem because they can only score with their backs, but nobody makes a fuss about it.” Canadian captain Sophie de Goede told the BBC: “We all believe in each other. England are a formidable team. The pressure is on them. We’re probably the only people who truly believe we can overcome this disruption.” Today’s match is a repeat of the 2014 RWC final where England won 21-9. This game is full of rivalry and it will be interesting to see which way it goes. Here are some previews to sink your teeth into before the match: Our man on the ground, Rob Kitson has a weather update from Eden Park and says it’s perfect weather for rugby today! Unlike last week’s torrential rain nightmare, the sky is clear, the sun is shining although there is a slight breeze. Will we see England use the weather to get the ball out of hand? Or will the drive stick come back into action? All will be revealed from 3.30… Get in touch and let me know how you feel this morning! Stayed up to date or had a nap? I had a four hour nap which hopefully will be enough to watch both games! You can contact me via Twitter and email. As I said, the team news is here and Canada has an unchanged starting 15, but they have mixed up their bench. They have named seven strikers among their substitutes in a bid to match England up front. Canada starts…
