Canada head the Women’s Rugby Super Series standings after a second bonus-point victory, this time 33-5 over hosts and neighbours USA at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

The Canadians, who overwhelmed world champions England 52-17 last Friday, will meet Six Nations champions France on the final day on Saturday with a first Women’s Rugby Super Series crown within their grasp.

In little more than a year’s time, all four teams will be battling for glory at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland and this tournament is a vital part of their preparations with coaches and players hoping to see an improvement with every match.

That was certainly the case for England, who bounced back from the heavy loss to Canada to beat France 17-13, snatching victory from the jaws of the defeat thanks to a try by debutant Zoe Aldcroft with time up on the clock.

Canada had been clinical in dispatching England and they came out firing again on day two, taking only seven minutes to open the scoring through winger Brittany Waters, only for the Women’s Eagles to cut the deficit to 7-5 after young prop Hope Rogers’ try.

The visitors continued to push forward but had to wait until the 34th minute to increase their advantage through an Andrea Burk penalty and try from their own prop DaLeaka Menin to make it 17-5 at half-time.

Raising the bar

Jenn Sever was sin-binned within minutes of the restart and Canada seized the advantage, adding another Burk penalty before the inside-centre powered her way over the line. Burk added another penalty before a late try from full-back Julianne Zussman provided the icing on the cake.

“I’m really pleased with the outcome of the game,” said Burk, who scored 18 of her side’s points in the win. “We’re really coming together, players one through 26, we’re coming onto the field to play together. It really showed today.

“With our team we come to play every game as it is on the day. We’re not looking for a title win, we are looking to build our skills. There’s so much more we can improve from this game and we are looking to raise the bar every time.”

USA coach Pete Steinberg added: “This game was obviously disappointing for us. Against France we played well and didn’t win, and that was a hard loss to take. This is a hard loss to take because we just didn’t play our best. 

“We played well enough to create opportunities against France. We didn’t play well enough to create too many opportunities against Canada. Fair enough to them, they’re a good side and they’re looking like the class outfit of this tournament.”

If Canada’s win was assured long before the final whistle, the same couldn’t be said for the day’s opening match between Six Nations rivals England and France, which was only decided with time up on the clock.

Typically tough test

The first half had been a hard-fought battle with both defences coming out on top and just three penalties, France ending it with a 6-3 lead after two penalties from inside-centre Camille Boudaud followed by one from fly-half Amber Reed. 

France had come closest to scoring a try in the first half, one of their trademark rolling mauls stopped on the line by a relieved England – who had conceded three tries by that method in the Six Nations loss in March.

England, though, began the second half with a new intensity and their relentless pressure was rewarded when Cari Large’s dummy allowed her to cut inside for a 52nd-minute try, Reed’s conversion taking their lead to 10-6.

A nervous finish was assured, though, when replacement Agathe Sochat scrambled over with 10 minutes to go to edge Les Bleues ahead once more. England, though, pounded the French line and managed to find a way over for replacement Aldcroft to avenge their Six Nations loss.

“That was another typically tough test against the French,” admitted lead coach Scott Bemand, whose side will conclude their campaign against USA on Saturday “Every time we play them, these are genuinely physical and hard matches.

“Perhaps we would have liked to have seen a bit more on the scoreboard but fair play to the French, they defended well and got us under pressure when they went ahead with 10 minutes to go. The character in our group of players, and how they came back from the result against Canada, to keep playing to the death, shows that they understand how to win these international matches.”

Photo: Neil Kennedy