At the 2019 Berlin Marathon, the eventual winner Kenenisa Bekele came within an ace of breaking the world record set by Eliud Kipchoge. The Ethiopian’s winning time was just two seconds shy of the Kenyan’s world-leading mark, but he did it the hard way. By the 30km mark, he had dropped off the pace set by his countryman Birhanu Legese, and was more than 100 metres adrift of the lead. When Bekele made up all the lost ground, Legese looked around, and there was a priceless moment of ‘double-take’ at the presence of his compatriot

Every long-distance runner will know the feeling. What happens when you have been leading a race, or just running on your own for a long period of time – and then, another competitor pulls alongside you? You hear the rasps of their breath and the pounding of their footfall as they move shoulder-to-shoulder, and the race begins all over again.

It represents a pivotal moment in the dynamic of the contest at all levels – an adrenaline surge and a boost for the chaser, and major physical and psychological challenge for the leader. That is the moment England Women will be digesting right now, having experienced the end of a winning streak dating all the way back to the 2022 World Cup final, 42 matches distant.

Head coach John Mitchell put a positive spin on events after the last-gasp 24-21 defeat by Canada when he observed: “We are not driven by outcome. We are disappointed by the result but there are some very good things in our performance tonight.

“I think the important thing is winning after winning is harder than before. I guess what it does is it frees us up and allows us all to find more. I know this group definitely has more in it but sometimes that requires the context that we have just received to dig deeper.”

The three-point loss marked a sea change in the women’s game, because only now will the Red Roses be able to discover how much they have truly progressed since their 2025 World Cup victory over the same opponent. The last three games in the WXV Global Series – a draw with Canada in Exeter’s Sandy Park in round two, a win over the Black Ferns at Twickenham patch when New Zealand had the draw in hand on the last play of the game in round three, and now the latest narrow loss in Toronto – have shown cumulatively more than one runner has drawn level, and are sitting on the shoulders of the women in white.

Captain Meg Jones commented after the game “our aim is to continue to improve, to be better and to continue to be better. Our team is built on performances, and we always want to perform. We’re our own biggest critics when it comes to that”; but for rather too long, that improvement has lacked the context of a true challenge.

The problem for England is the primary international tournament in their annual calendar does not really test them, except for the one-off games against France.

‘Serious challenge’ is not the first phrase you would associate with the Six Nations, not as far as the England are concerned. The following excerpt comes from a report on the 2026 Women’ Six Nations penned by World Rugby consultant, and ex-international referee Corris Thomas.

“A major characteristic of the Women’s Six Nations Championship since its inception has been England’s consistent and total domination of all teams except France. Throughout the professional era that started in 2017, the 32 championship matches played by England against the four teams up to 2025:

• produced an average score of 54-5
• an average of 35 tries scored per tournament, against 2.5 conceded

“In this year’s tournament, against all nations bar France, England

• generated an average score of 60-19
• scored 36 tries, while conceding 12

“The 2026 tournament suggested that the gap between England and Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy shows little evidence of closing, except in the number of tries scored by England’s four opponents. In the eight years leading up to this year’s competition, those four opponents had only averaged 0.6 tries per game scored against England. This year it increased to three tries per game.”

The problem for England is the primary international tournament in their annual calendar does not really test them, except for the one-off games against France.

The underlying reason for England’s becalmed sailing in the waters of the north is to be found in the character of the game being played there. As Thomas suggests later in his report:

“A consistent characteristic of the women’s game at domestic and international level is it is more forward-orientated than the men’s game. A comparison of this year’s men’s Six Nations Championship with the women’s edition illustrates the point very well:

• In the men’s version, only 39% of tries were scored by forwards – in the women’s it was 58%
• The set-pieces of lineout and scrum produced 55% of tries in the men’s Six Nations – they accounted for 71% in the women’s Six Nations
• 27% of tries in the men’s tournament came started from launches within their own half, that dropped to 19% in the women’s competition.

“The only exceptions to the forward-dominated scoring pattern were France and Scotland.”

Most of the scoring is done by the forwards and close to set-piece, and England has by far the best set-piece forwards anywhere on planet rugby. The new challenge facing the Red Roses is twofold: neither of their closest rivals, Canada and New Zealand, play their rugby in the Six Nations, and neither of them share the same attitude to the game which is characteristic of that tournament.

This recent article analysed Canada’s success in entering the wide channels on attack in the first match at Sandy Park. When the two sides moved the ball from midfield into either of the 15-5m channels on attack, England had but two positive outcomes [both converted to tries] but were turned over on six occasions. In contrast Canada enjoyed seven positive outcomes [including two tries and four other line-breaks] set against one solitary turnover.

In the process, the Canadians at 13 and in the back three composed of numbers 11, 14 and 15, featuring twin sevens standouts, centre Flo Symonds and wing Asia Hogan-Rochester, made 232m to England’s meagre 74m. In Toronto, the equation was closer, with the women in the same positions accumulating 299m [Canada] versus 208m [England], even if all but 50m of the Red Rose total were earned by the peerless Ellie Kildunne from full-back.

The English defence of the 15-5m channels was also much superior away from home than it had been down in Devon. The influence of new coaching consultant Shaun Edwards was clearly in evidence as the Red Roses pressed up far more aggressively on the outside, looking to eat the space before the Canadian could exploit it fully.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026

In both cases,  Jones has eaten around 10m of upfield space by the time the ball hits the second main receiver, with full-back Kildunne closing quickly on the edge when she sees a threat developing. Despite a clean break engineered for Alysha Corrigan in the second clip, both attacks end in turnover, the first with a kick and the second via a vicious counter-ruck at the breakdown. The actions of Jones and co have the imprint of Edwards stamped all over them.

It was Canada’s ability to work out ways to counter this new and more aggressive form of Red Rose defence which made all the difference in the second period, and put them over the top in the final moments of the game. They added an extra layer of depth to their backline, with Symonds looking to put Jones on the ground and take her out of the scramble defence on the right.

https://t.co/XpjC8O6Cvo

— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026

They aligned a big forward [back-row Gabi Senft] over a small back [wing Jess Breach] and created a mismatch on the left edge.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026

Eventually, they made two biggest scores of the game down both edges of the field.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 18, 2026

In the first clip, Canada use their backline depth and offloading in contact to offset the rush by Jones and take her out of the game, then they return to the well for a second time with Corrigan exploiting the early close by Kildunne with an expertly timed chip through and regather. Jones is still clearly labouring in pursuit after her efforts earlier in the sequence. In the second instance, the Red Roses look to stick and hit on the outside and that leaves a prop [Maud Muir] trying to cover a back [Shoshanah Seumanutafa] in cover down the touchline. There can be only one winner of that contest.

Canada have finally drawn level with England. As outstanding prop DaLeaka Menin indicated, “what we’ve been trying to show the world finally came out a bit today. We made it hard for ourselves, but I’m just so proud of the outcome.” The gauntlet for the third game in Ottawa next weekend has been thrown down, and now it is up to the Red Roses to find their very own Berlin Marathon moment in response.