Lessons from Canada, hope in Canberra & an Accidental Red Rose 🌹

We need to talk about Canada… again. Two defeats in a week, the series is gone, and for the first time in about a decade the Red Roses have lost back-to-back games. What went wrong in Ottawa, and where does Mitch go from here?

This week we’ve got a double act to help us work it out. GSR regular and Scotland lock Emma “Wass” Wassell is back, and joining her on her first ever trip to the pod is Trailfinders back-rower and Red Rose No. 271, Haidee Head!

The Rev’s away this week, so we’ve done the stats homework ourselves. The headline number: Canada made 13 line breaks to England’s 2 in Ottawa. Ouch.

Haidee’s journey to an England shirt is one of the wildest we’ve heard. A year ago, she’d just been dropped by the Queensland Reds. Her plan was a season in the PWR, then maybe a season in Super Rugby Aupiki in New Zealand, then back to Queensland to try to win her Reds contract back. Instead, she moved to Trailfinders, became a Red Rose and won a Six Nations… a tournament she’d never actually watched until she was playing in it! Now she’s an England player, and it sounds like she’s here to stay.

We also get into what it means to blood new talent. Haidee tells us how that trust gives a young player the confidence to step up in the big moments, and Wass explains why there’s no substitute for experience at international level.

Elsewhere this week:

🌹 England v Canada: the numbers behind losing the series, and what has to change.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland: nine defeats in a row and four different attack coaches in the last year. But they led at half-time in Canberra, so are there signs of real improvement by the end of WXV? Wass gives us the inside view.

🇺🇸 USA v England: the Eagles arrive on a five-Test winning run for the Red Roses’ final WXV game this Friday (kick-off 21:15 UK - NOT a midnight KO, praise be!). Will it be a bounce back or a banana skin?

Make sure you check out Mitsubishi Electric’s toolkit at parallelpotential.com 💬

And if you need money for your rugby club, you can apply here for the Allianz All Together Sports Fund: https://www.allianz.co.uk/about-allianz/partnerships/sports-fund.html

They have £100,000 to giveaway to grassroots rugby clubs. Any RFU, WRU, Scottish Rugby or IRFU club in Northern Ireland can apply and the deadline is 21 November 2026.

Send us your post tour questions for Scaz & Mo - we’re recording with them straight off their flight back from North America… info@goodscazrugby.com 💬

Don’t sleep on Magic Meg’s merch: https://magicmegltd.myshopify.com

& please join us in manifesting a Red Roses win in New Jersey 🌹

Happy listening & watching, GSR fam!

Shira x

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