‘We’re down, not out’: Sarah Bern sees back-to-back defeats as the start of a new chapter

The Red Roses arrived in New Jersey for their final WXV Global Series fixture of 2026 in an uncomfortable position. It had been a decade since the side had last lost two matches in a row. But against Canada, at fixtures in Toronto and Ottawa, that is exactly what happened.

Defeat in Toronto at BMO Field ended a 41-match unbeaten run for England, which stretched all the way back to 2022. A week later, Canada were in their stride, playing in front of another strong home crowd and got the job done again. With one last Test match of 2026 to go – their 11th of the calendar year – Sarah Bern sat across from RugbyPass at a table overlooking the Manhattan skyline.

The prop will win her 90th Test cap against the USA Women’s Eagles at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Friday night. Now a decade into her international career, she has known defeat in an England shirt before. In fact she was in the touring squad when the Red Roses last lost their second successive game in Women’s Rugby Super Series competition in 2016.

Bern described those consecutive defeats as “the elephant in the room”, and admitted that those losses has acted as the starting pistol for a new England to emerge.

“Canada had said, openly, that they had a game plan to beat us,” the 29-year-old said. “If you look at their year, they haven’t necessarily won every game they’ve played, but their game plan was to beat England and they’ve achieved that goal.

“We need to look at ourselves. We haven’t changed anything. We’ve been playing the same team for the last four years since Mitch has come in. We haven’t really changed too much of it. If you’re playing a team consistently over that period of time, you’re going to figure out where the holes are and how to beat it.

“Like, kudos to them for doing that, but for us it doesn’t take anything away. We’ve been dominant throughout the year, throughout the World Cup, for 41 games. I kind of see it as, you go to the gym and you work to failure, right? Then you have a rest because that’s what achieves growth.

“If you look at that in sport, if you are looking at some of the comments, ‘England are losing, this isn’t good’, actually this is what’s going to achieve our growth. There’s a saying, if you’re one failure away from your success, how many times would you try and fail?”

It will be six months until England play again. When the 2027 Guinness Women’s Six Nations comes about, the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 champions will have fixtures at the Stadium of Light, Principality Stadium, Aviva Stadium and Allianz Stadium to look forward to, along with a stop-off at Franklin’s Gardens to host Italy.

By then it is hoped that England will have made headway with their new style of play. A style of play they hope can take them to consecutive Women’s Rugby World Cup titles. That idea of evolution is one that Bern likes the sound of, “I don’t really believe in ceilings, I don’t believe in barriers.”

“Now it is time to go away, have a look at that and I’m really excited about the prospect of having new things put in, having changes and trying to create a slightly different attacking game,” Bern added.

“That’s what we all want to do and it started this weekend. We might not have changed too much yet, but it’s definitely that reset of, let’s just go for it.

“It’s not that surprising [reaction to England’s loss], it’s a narrative that’s been pushed out there – that England need to be beaten. Every single team we play has their best game against us. That’s nothing unusual for us.

“What I would say is, bear with us. Because, think of what we achieved doing a similar thing for the last four years. I think if that changes and evolves and develops, think about what we could then achieve in the future. This isn’t a bad thing for us.

“That’s not me going, oh yeah we’re brilliant. Everyone is frustrated. I was frustrated. But I see it as a space we can really now try and attack in a different way. For me, that’s how I’ve attacked my whole career and I’m really excited for it.”

England are not alone in discovering how quickly the international landscape is changing. The WXV Global Series has provided a reminder of the increasingly competitive nature of the women’s game, with France also struggling against New Zealand and Scotland were unable to find an answer to Australia.

The margins are shrinking, and England will need to evolve if they are to remain ahead of the chasing pack. Next year will even see the first-ever British & Irish Lions Women tour, which will take place across September 2027.

It will be the first time that players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales have come together. Another chance to create a little bit of history.

“I think Jo’s [Yapp, Lions head coach] great,” Bern laughed.

But even with new firsts around the corner, there are always dots of nostalgia too. None more than the return of Matt Ferguson to camp as scrum and contact skills coach. Last a member of the coaching staff eight years ago, it was Ferguson who converted Bern from the back-row to an all-action prop.

While Ferguson has only been back in with the team for a short period of time, there is plenty of familiarity – along with the creeping sensation of deja vu.

“Matt Ferguson is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Bern said. “The detail he goes into and the honesty that it’s delivered with, I think is brilliant and something that we definitely needed. It’s honesty but done in a positive way.

“For me, if you do that in a room of athletes, they’re going to chase that. Everyone wants to get better. No one’s sat in an England team going, I don’t want to be good at that.”

Friday night will see Bern play her 90th international for England. Her debut against France a decade ago in Salt Lake City, Utah, in some ways feels like a distant memory. The years since have been laden with Test success. Numerous Women’s Six Nations titles and Grand Slams, and three Women’s Rugby World Cup appearances. The most recent of which ending with a winners’ medal.

“It just crept up on me,” Bern said of the landmark appearance. “I didn’t really realise until in the Six Nations, I was on my 86th or something. I was like, that’s pretty high. To get there, it’s a phenomenal achievement, and I’m not as young as the kids coming through now, but I still have a fair few years left in me. I’m very honoured. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to reach that.

“I’m very touched that I’ve managed to share my experiences on the pitch with England with so many incredible players – Danielle Waterman at the age of 17, 18, Emily Scarratt. I could name every single person. Now I play with the youngsters like Maddie Feaunati. She’s been outstanding. Then the friends I’ve known for years like Zoe Harrison, Zoe Stratford. I’m very lucky to have had that.”

England take on a USA team that are on a five-match winning streak. Their first of this kind since 2006. Jack Hanratty’s side have had a number of standout performers. Freda Tafuna has scored seven tries in four WXV Global Series matches so far. Bella Vogel, the team’s teenage midfielder, has been nominated for World Rugby Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year. It is an Eagles team in an extremely good place after wins against Ireland, Wales and Italy.

The fixture is a first opportunity for England to put the record straight on a few things. Even though their unbeaten run was ended, they are still world champions and the world’s top-ranked side. Even if they can slip to third in the World Rugby rankings with a defeat of 15 points or more and results elsewhere.

“We’re not wounded,” Bern said. “We’re down, not out. We don’t see it as; this is horrific. We see it as, well we better step it up now. I think that’s a very dangerous side to be against, people that want to win. They want to show this is day one of our new chapter. Why wait for the Six Nations? Let’s start now.

“Let’s go out there and show what we’ve been doing. I’m personally really excited to have another opportunity to put on an England shirt and compete against a team that is frothing at the mouth to beat England. It’s what we live for.”