an international debut is something special that heather cowell made sure it was one to remember. but that was short lived. canada came to show why they are third in the world. the roses were behind for the first time in the tournament. game on. england are rarely tested but this time they were made to work for it. they are here to play. cowell certainly did, delighting her home crowd once again before the half—time break. 20 points to 12. as a full professional outfit, england have strength in depth and quickly began to show it. the canadians were left chasing their tails as the roses headed towards a 17th consecutive victory. less than a year until the delayed rugby world cup, but england already seem to be in good shape. claudia mcdonald crossed over for the final try before the boot of zoe harrison sealed it 51 to 12. i am thrilled, it was a really good test match at the scoreboard doesn't tell the story. canada are tough and they were outstanding today. there were parts when we had to really fight for it and moments when they caused us problems and they came at us. it was gre

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wing heather cowell went over twice on her debut.they beat the usa next weekend. elsewhere, scotland's women beat japan. it's tight at the top of the women's super league. chelsea are nowjust a point behind arsenal after thrashing manchester city 4—0 away. the reigning champions took the lead after a minute and never looked back, fran kirby with the pick of their goals. they have now won six in a row. you can find all the wsl scores on the bbc website, also on there tributes to a celtic legend, bertie auld, who has died at the age of 83. that's all the sport for now. thank you very much. that's all from us tonight. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. goodbye. welcome back, you're watching the bbc news. £50 million worth of government funding has been promised over the next five years to help find a cure for motor neurone disease. it comes two months after a petition was delivered to downing street, by some of those living with the terminal illness — including the former rugby league star, rob burrow. our reporter, l

england got off the mark early thanks to heather cowell�*s try.ight win and come into the match after record breaking wins over new zealand to cement their status as the top ranked women's rugby union side. everton held manchester united, to a 1—all draw in the early women's super league match. united were hoping to stay in contention with the top three and they looked good for that after ella toone gave them an early lead, with a good finish here. everton managed to find a way back in it, though — simone magill with their equaliser, taking advatnage of a mix up in the united defence with around 15 minutes to go. united stay fifth with everton down in tenth. chelsea are second but can close gap on leaders arsenal — after their draw with spurs on saturday, they've not long kicked off against manchester city. they're 1—up there. jessie fleming with the goal. and it is currently 1—0 to aston villa in their match against birmingham. crystal palace midfielder conor gallagher has been given his first call up to the england senior squad, ahead of tomorro

there will also be debuts given to sadia kabeya and heather cowell, whilst abbie ward and poppy clealltheir 50th caps. we are very strict with ourselves but what that outcome is an processes and not to let the fact that two amazing games distract us from that and the group is really good about that and certainly not getting complacent by anything at all because of how driven we are as all because of how driven we are as a playing squad. next to football — gareth southgate says england must put in an improved performance against albania at wembley tonight as they look to qualify for next year's world cup. after that disappointing draw against hungary — england need four points from their last two games to guarantee their place at qatar 2022. they're away at san marino on monday. injuries and illness have affected england's preparations ahead of albania this evening — and the england manager says they won't be underestimating their opponents we are obviously very aware of the team from our only game there, but from all in the group which we have watched closely, so they're a very well or

there will also be debuts given to sadia kabeya and heather cowell, whilst abbie ward and poppy cleallat processes and not to let the fact that we have had two amazing games so far distract us from that. the group is really good about that and certainly not get complacent by anything at all, because of how driven we are as a playing squad. a quick look now at the other sports news making headlines today. frank lampard has dropped out of the running to become the new norwich manager. lampard had been in talks about succeeding daniel farke at carrow road but won't be taking charge. norwich have also spoken to former aston villa manager dean smith. it's been confirmed manchester united will play their first women's super league game in front of fans at old trafford next year, against everton. united played west ham at old trafford last season, but covid restrictions meant the game took place behind closed doors. and tommy fleetwood and paul waring are the best placed british players at the halfway stage of the dubai championship. they're both on 12 under par, three shots behind the leader

captain sarah hunter returns to the starting 15, there are debuts given to sadia kabeya and heather cowelltions ahead of albania this evening — and the england manager says they won�*t be underestimating their opponents we are obviously very aware of the team from, our only game there but from all in the group which we have watched closely, so very well organised team. we neverfocus watched closely, so very well organised team. we never focus too much on individual players, we are always talking about the collective way of playing, but we prepared the same way for every game that we play and i think we always have that respect for the opposition. some sad news to bring you this morning, the former england and wolves midfielder ron flowers has died at the age of 87. he earned 49 caps for england, scoring all six of the penalties he took for his country and also made 515 appearances for wolves where he won three first division titles. flowers was a non—playing member of the england squad which won the 1966 world cup and was later awarded a winners�* medal in 2009. wales are officially guaran

and it was a debut to remember for heather cowell as she crossed over twice for the roses on her homeithout goal—scoring record in his sights, he will be thinking, you know, he could have had full again tonight, couldn't he? it has moments where he looks amazing and then like many great strikers, goes through a period movie doesn't score many goals against criticism and comes back with a goes again. it's difficult how that pressure, everybody piling the pressure on you and then just coming out and performing. i rememberspeaking and then just coming out and performing. i remember speaking to alan shearer about this. due member before euro 96 he went through the longest drought of his international career where he had not scored and terry venables the manager sat down before the tournament and said, you will be my striker. you will be the leader of this team and i will never change that and i'm confident you will score goals and he went out there and did that and won the golden boot. it's all about man management. he might not be doing it for tottenham necessarily at the moment but when

there will also be debuts given to sadia kabeya and heather cowell, whilst abbie ward and poppy cleallesses and not to let the fact that we have had two amazing games so far distract us from that. the group is really good about that and certainly not get complacent by anything at all, because of how driven we are as a playing squad. the former england and wolves midfielder ron flowers has died at the age of 87. he earned 49 caps for england and scored all six of the penalties he took for his country, also making 515 appearances for wolves where he won three league titles. flowers was a non—playing member of the england squad which won the 1966 world cup and was later awarded a winners' medal in 2009. scotland are in moldova this afternoon in a five o'clock kick—off. if they win, they'll be guaranteed a world cup play—off place. victory would ensure scotland finish second behind denmark who've already qualified. moldova restricted scotland to a 1—0 win at hampden in september. manager steve clarke is expecting another tight game but says his side is full of belief. i have spoken quite a