WORCESTER Valkyries' Lydia Thompson scored two tries for England in a hard-fought 27-20 win over Canada in Christchurch.

The nation made it two wins from two games in the 2017 International Women's Rugby Series with Worcester prop Rochelle Clark also starting the match.

Abbie Scott and Kay Wilson also went over for England with seven points coming from the boot of Emily Scarratt.

Wing Magali Harvey kicked 10 points for Canada while Carolyn McEwen and Karen Paquin crossed the whitewash but they could not find a score in the closing stages.

After Scott powered over the ball was then fed out to Thompson who outpaced her opposite number and dived over in the corner.

The sides traded points as England led 15-10 at half-time but Canada edged ahead on 50 minutes with a converted try.

But wing Thompson again produced a moment of magic, beating several defenders on her way to the try line.

Wilson later crossed in the corner to score her 11th try in her last five international matches.  

England women's head coach Simon Middleton said: “We’re a bit frustrated but at the same time I’m really proud of the way we hung in and won the game.

"Test match rugby is about winning, we did that. We had some great moments in the game and some things we didn’t quite get right.

"We have just beaten one of the best teams in the world. We deserved to win but just made life difficult for ourselves.

“I’m absolutely confident we’ll learn quickly from this which we’ll have to do going into the New Zealand game.

"We are two from two now, it’s where we wanted to be and we’re lining ourselves up for a great game against the Black Ferns."

England play New Zealand at Rotorua International Stadium on Saturday (5.15am BST).