Still unbeaten, yes, but for England this was anything but business as usual. The Red Roses remain undefeated in 40 Tests but, for once, there were no victory speeches to be delivered afterwards. For the first time since 2022 they have failed to win an international fixture, bringing to an end one of the purest winning sequences in world sport.

A wonderfully committed Canadian side fully deserved a share of the spoils and, in some ways, were unfortunate not to depart with more. The outcome was still up for grabs deep into the final quarter and England, in the end, were indebted to two first-half tries from their Exeter wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald which helped to spare their blushes.

With the clock ticking down and the scores still locked at 26-26, however, it appeared as though England might have located the necessary key, only for the home forwards to be held up over the line and then denied by a loudly celebrated Canadian ruck turnover. In the final analysis, though, they lacked some of their customary forward dynamism and their frequent matchwinner Ellie Kildunne was consistently denied the luxury of space and time out wide under grey, drizzle-threatening skies.

The can-do Canadians, by contrast, all enhanced their reputations and will now be looking forward with even more eagerness o hosting England in two further WXV series Tests this autumn. Here was another reminder of the ability and spirit that took them all the way to last year’s World Cup final, with the openside flanker Julia Omokhuale and the perennially excellent Sophie de Goede both outstanding.

It was also Canada who initially grabbed the game by the lapels with two tries in the first quarter for number eight Lizzie Gibson and prop DaLeaka Menin. Both were the product of close quarter pick-and-go pressure, precisely the kind of thing that England love using to their advantage, while a couple of costly dropped balls also did little for home momentum.

The Red Roses were not looking at their slickest in other areas, either, but did strike back via a ninth minute try for Moloney-MacDonald wide on the left and a no-nonsense barging score from Hannah Botterman. John Mitchell’s plan is clearly to try to speed up the team’s tempo and add more variation to their game but sometimes nothing beats the tried-and-tested basics.

Both sides then had a potential try apiece ruled out, the first when Moloney-MacDonald was unable to properly ground a bouncing chip ahead and, more contentiously, when a beautiful weaving 45-metre solo score by the athletic Asia Hogan-Rochester was nullified by a marginal forward pass. The ball appeared to come out of the hands flat only to drift forwards subsequently; either way it was tough on the classy Hogan-Rochester.

It felt even harsher when the roving Moloney-MacDonald grabbed her second, this time on the right-hand side, after a strong carry from Sadia Kabeya in the build up. Canada, though, were not to be deterred and the alert Menin, who also plays her club rugby for Exeter, grabbed her second on the stroke of half-time to send the teams down the tunnel all square at 19-19.

If England’s fans were expecting normal service to be swiftly resumed after the interval they were to be disappointed again. The visitors made most of the third quarter running until a turnover in the Red Roses’ 22 gave England a much-needed escape route, leading to a try at the other end for hooker Bryony Field to mark her first international start.

Still Canada kept coming, shining a sometimes unflattering light on some of England’s first-up tackling out wide. De Goede, in fairness, is not the easiest to stop at full gallop and the second-rower galloped 20 metres before offloading to the energetic Olivia Apps inside her. It was not quite enough in the end but this was anything but a routine box-ticking exercise for the world champions, exactly what the women’s international game has been crying out for.

The mood around the ground was again uplifting, as well. Maybe the cowboy hat quotient has fallen slightly but the number of children and young adults in the crowd would still be the envy of any global sport. Win or draw there seems to be no diluting the love and enthusiasm of budding Red Roses everywhere.