Lark Atkin-Davies scored four of England’s seven tries as the Red Roses maintained their 100% winning record in WXV1 by beating Canada in Dunedin.

Ellie Kildunne gave England an early lead, while Jess Breach and Claudia MacDonald also crossed in a bonus-point win for the world’s number one team.

Their final game is against New Zealand on Saturday, 4 November (06:00 GMT).

Emily Tuttosi and Paige Farries touched down either side of half-time for Canada, who were beaten for the first time in the competition.

England have claimed a maximum 10 points from their opening two games and are in a strong position to win the inaugural WXV1 tournament.

The Red Roses ran in six tries in a 42-7 opening win against Australia, but a repeat of that convincing success looked unlikely after half an hour against Canada, leading only 7-5 and faced with the prospect of playing with 14 for the remainder of the first half.

But the passage of play that saw England fly-half Holly Aitchison sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on, followed by Tuttosi’s score from the resulting penalty and line-out, proved a turning point.

Atkin-Davies went over twice before the interval to stretch England’s advantage to 16 points, before she completed her quartet of tries in the early stages of the second half.

Full-back Kildunne, one of nine players brought into a much-changed starting XV, exploited gaps in the Canada defensive line to create tries for replacement Breach and MacDonald in the closing stages.

England’s next match is against New Zealand in Auckland – in a repeat of the most recent World Cup final – on 4 November.

Reaction

England interim head coach Louis Deacon:

“It was a good game, a very tough game and exactly what we needed. I’m pleased we were tested at times by Canada, certainly around the set piece. I’m really pleased with our defensive effort.

“We don’t get to play New Zealand very often, we played them last year in the [World Cup] final and it’ll be a great occasion again.

“We want to play against the best teams in the world and that’s why this competition is exciting.”

Line-ups

England: Kildunne; Dow, Rowland, Reed, MacDonald; Aitchison, Hunt; Carson, Atkin-Davies, Bern, Aldcroft, O’Donnell, Talling, Packer, Matthews.

Replacements: Powell, Botterman, Muir, Galligan, Allen, Wyrwas, Heard, Breach.

Canada: Lachance; Farries, Seumanutafa, Tessier, Symonds; Gallagher, Apps; Hunt, Tuttosi, Menin, Beukeboom, Holtkamp, Senft, Svoboda, De Goede.

Replacements: Boag, Kassil, Ellis, Smith, Pelletier, Cline, Schell, Grant.