Morwenna Talling: 'It’s a bit gutting but it was going to have to come to an end'

For many of the current Red Roses players, losing in an England shirt is an unfamiliar feeling.

Last weekend, Canada brought England’s impressive 41-match unbeaten run to an end, as they claimed a thrilling 24-21 victory at BMO Field in Toronto in front of a record-breaking crowd of 18,621 spectators.

For Morwenna Talling, who made her Red Roses debut in 2020 against Italy in a 54-0 win and has been a regular feature in the squad ever since, the defeat marked a rare low in an England career largely defined by success, but she is determined to help England bounce back when the two sides meet again in the WXV Global Series this weekend.

“Obviously we’ve gone through a massive streak and I’ve had the opportunity to play with this team having never lost,” Talling said.

“It’s a bit gutting but it was going to have to come to an end and I’m so grateful to have been a part of that period of time when we did win all those games.

“It just shows how much the rest of the rugby world is coming along and it’s only going to make the game better and grow everyone individually and as a team.”

Rather than focusing on the end of their winning streak, England now have the opportunity to try and level their three-Test series with Canada and Talling is embracing the challenge of experiencing something new with her side.

“We have the chance to go again this weekend and see what we can give,” she said.

“We’ve always had the opportunity to win and then go on and back that win up with another win. This time it’s different.

“It allows us to respond to something we’ve never responded to before.”

The back row continued, “Naturally that changes what we do in camp. Our processes stay the same, but you can feel that shift of knowing we’ve got to respond and try and go win.

“Being able to execute when we go score and finish the pressure we build is probably the biggest thing going into this weekend.

“I think we did have that pressure on Canada, but we let ourselves down in that area. We’ve picked up a few areas we need to work on.

“We know what we do does work, so it’s just that execution piece. It’s our chance to respond and we’re all definitely looking forward to it.”

While England look to improve on the pitch, the 24-year-old highlighted the importance of keeping the squad connected off it.

“As a group we’ve bonded really well. We went out for dinner last night and we’ve got an ice hockey game tonight, which we’re going to go see altogether as a group,” she said with a smile.

“I think that it’s really important to stick to that and keep bonding.”

Talling also stressed the value of facing the best opposition regularly, with the WXV Global Series providing England with the chance to test themselves against Canada three times, as well as Australia and the Black Ferns and they still have the USA to go on October 30.

“We always want to challenge ourselves against the best and to be able to do that pretty much six weeks in a row is something that you don’t normally get to do.

“To have that opportunity to test our game, test where we’re at and do it against Canada three times makes us evolve and makes every team better,” she added.

“Canada have grown a lot. They’ve always been a physical side, but they’ve taken that to another level. Their backs were crazy good the other day and they’ve got absolute pace in the wide channel.

“Their overall game has developed and they’re continuing to grow, so we’ve just got to keep growing above that.

“Similar to the other countries going to do different parts of the world, it’s testing everyone against harder competition. I think it’s needed and we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”

The Red Roses will face Canada at TD Place in Ottawa in their third and final Test against the side this Friday.