5. England 26 – 13 Canada: 1992 Autumn Internationals
October 17th 1992, Wembley Stadium, London
England and Canada have met seven times in men’s test matches, with their first encounter bizarrely taking place at the home of English football. Wembley Stadium was the venue, as an England team headed up by Geoff Cooke took on Canada, in what was a competitive encounter, a world away from the previous one-way landslides on this list. Unfortunately, there are no available records of the scorers from this contest, which has seemingly fallen deep into the void of the RFU archives.
England’s records state that they have never been beaten by Canada in the men’s game, however, those who fly the Maple Leaf flag beg to differ. Just a year after the first meeting, Canada recorded a 15-12 victory over an England XV at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia. However, less than 24 hours before kick-off, the RFU stripped this match of official test status, as they confirmed how they would not award test caps to their players. England’s ranks were withered by the 1993 British and Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand, yet Canada ignored the claims and awarded their players test caps after their win.
England and Canada have little rivalry within the men’s game, whilst the two sides are fierce competitors in the women’s side of the sport. Emily Scarratt led the Red Roses to triumph over Canada in the 2014 Rugby World Cup Final, and the two sides met again as recently as last year’s Rugby World Cup semi-finals. England and Canada will soon begin a three-match series, with friendly test matches at Saracens’ Stone X and Exeter’s Sandy Park, before the two side’s meet in New Zealand for the inaugural WXV1 tournament this October.