Abby Dow to sit out England's WXV 1 decider

John Mitchell has made three changes to his starting line-up for England’s WXV 1 title decider against Canada, with Abby Dow ruled out of the finale at BC Place.

Dow picked up a suspected concussion in last Sunday’s 49-31 victory against New Zealand and will go through the graduated return to play protocol.

Her place on the Red Roses right wing will be taken by Bo Westcombe-Evans, who scored a try on her debut against USA in round one.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – One year to go until the Women’s Rugby World Cup

Video Player is loading.

Play Video

PauseSkip BackwardSkip Forward

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 1:00

Loaded: 0%

0:00

Stream Type LIVE

Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE

Remaining Time -1:00

 

1x

Playback Rate

Chapters

• Chapters

Descriptions

• descriptions off, selected

Captions

• captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
• captions off, selected

Audio Track

• en (Main), selected

Fullscreen

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

Text

ColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-Transparent

Text Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparent

Caption Area Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque

Font Size

50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%

Text Edge Style

NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop shadow

Font Family

Proportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps

ResetDone

Close Modal Dialog

End of dialog window.

Close Modal Dialog

This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – One year to go until the Women’s Rugby World Cup

With exactly one year to go until Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 kicks off
in Sunderland, excitement is sweeping across the host nation in anticipation of what
will be the biggest and most accessible celebration of women’s rugby ever.

Register now for the ticket presale

The two other changes come in the pack, where lock Rosie Galligan and flanker Maddie Feaunati come in for Abbie Ward and Morwenna Talling, who both drop to the bench.

The Red Roses head into the final round with 10 points from their matches against the Black Ferns and Women’s Eagles and needing only to avoid defeat against the hosts to retain the title they won in New Zealand last year.

“Last weekend was an outstanding example of improvement within the group,” Mitchell said.

Fixture

WXV 1

Canada Women

12 - 21

Full-time

England Women

All Stats and Data

“We want to deliver another high-standard performance against Canada. We remain focused on the challenge that awaits and we are ready to attack it.”

England team to play Canada

15. Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins, 47 caps)
14. Bo Westcombe-Evans (Loughborough Lightning, 1 cap)
13. Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 33 caps)
12. Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury, 25 caps)
11. Jess Breach (Saracens, 42 caps)
10. Holly Aitchison (Bristol Bears, 34 caps)
9. Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury, 75 caps)
1. Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears, 50 caps)
2. Amy Cokayne (Leicester Tigers, 78 caps)
3. Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury, 34 caps)
4. Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, 57 caps)
5. Rosie Galligan (Saracens, 18 caps)
6. Maddie Feaunati (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
7. Marlie Packer (Saracens, 107 caps) – captain
8. Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury, 71 caps)

Replacements
16. Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears, 61 caps)
17. Mackenzie Carson (Gloucester-Hartpury, 19 caps)
18. Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears, 65 caps)
19. Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears, 68 caps)
20. Morwenna Talling (Sale Sharks, 17 caps)
21. Lucy Packer (Harlequins, 25 caps)
22. Zoe Harrison (Saracens, 53 caps)
23. Emily Scarratt (Loughborough Lightning, 115 caps)