England Head Coach, Geoff Richards was pleased with England’s first outing:

“I am very pleased with the performance. It’s a new look England side and to score seven tries against a very strong and physical Canadian team is very encouraging. We seemed to lose our structure a little at the start of the second half, but I was particularly pleased with the way that we came back and finished off the game.”

Richards also commented on the success of the younger generation of England players, in particular the two new caps – Barras and Massarella:

“I was pleased for both girls and I think both played very well. It’s always quite nerve racking to play your first game for your country, but I don’t think either of them showed those nerves out on the field.”

As well as Crawford’s double, England also scored tries through Helen Clayton, Sue Day, Shannon Baker, Kim Shaylor and Karen Andrew, who also kicked two penalties and two conversions in a personal haul of 15 points. Canada’s only score was a try by full back Heather Moyse.

In the second and final match of the series, England play Canada this Wednesday at Newbury, kick off 6.30pm.  For details on ticket prices please visit www.rfu.com and select the Women’s Rugby tab.

For media interested in attending the second match at Newbury please email chris.simon@perfectmotion.org to confirm your attendance.

Match details from today:

Scoring sequence:
9min Andrew pen (3-0), 14min Crawford try (8-0), 15min Andrew con (10-0), 22min Andrew pen (13-0), 33min Clayton try (18-0), 42min Moyse try (18-5). H-T 18-5, 49min Day try (23-5), 55min Baker try (28-5), 73min Crawford try (33-5), 78min Andrew try (38-5), 83min Shaylor try (43-5), 84min Andrew con (45-5), F-T 45-5.

England
15. Sue Day, 14. Nicola Crawford, 13. Charlotte Barras, 12. Paula George (C), 11. Kim Shaylor, 10. Karen Andrew, 9. Jo Yapp,
1. Rochelle Clarke, 2. Amy Garnett, 3. Vanessa Huxford, 4. Jenny Sutton, 5. Rachel Vickers, 6. Shannon Baker, 7. Helen Clayton, 8. Catherine Spencer
Replacements: 16. Selena Rudge, 17. Vanessa Gray, 18. Claire Green, 19. Georgia Stevens, 20. Susie Appleby, 21. Danielle Waterman, 22. Vicki Massarella

Canada
15. Heather Moyse, 14. Christie Thompson, 13. Kristina Heemskerk, 12. Kary Steele, 11. Maria Gallo, 10. Kelly McCallum (Capt), 9. Erin Dance,
1. Leslie Cripps, 2. Raquel Eldridge, 3. Sheila Turner, 4. Rania Burns, 5. Araba Chintoh, 6. Maureen MacMahon, 7. Gillian Florence, 8. Katie Murray
Replacements: 16. Lesley McKenzie, 17. Heather Jaques, 18. Megan Gibbs, 19. Heather McDonald, 20. Sommer Christy, 21. Sarah Ulmer, 22. Brooke Hilditch