Head coach John Mitchell believes England’s thrilling draw with Canada will inspire “greater things to come” from the world champions despite the result ending their record-breaking winning streak.

England had won their past 39 Tests before Saturday’s fixture.

Canada, who had lost their 13 previous meetings with the Red Roses on English soil, held England to a 26-26 draw in a nail-biting, physical battle at Exeter’s Sandy Park.

It was only the second game domestically or internationally for England’s players this season and, for Mitchell, one result is not justification to tear up the playbook.

Instead, he views it as a building block towards future success.

“It was just a matter of scoring across the white line,” Mitchell said. “We were applying huge pressure. We just didn’t convert.”

Avoiding defeat means the Red Roses have extended their unbeaten run to 40 matches, a record they will hope to extend with WXV Global Series games against New Zealand, two more fixtures against Canada and another against the United States still to come.

Mitchell said: “There was such good stuff in there. I’m very patient because we’re just starting and we’re still alive in this Test series.

“I’m a realist. There will be greater things come as a result of this. There’s a greater purpose and one Test match is not going to take us away from our purpose.”

For the opening 10 minutes, the match followed the script of last year’s World Cup final between the two sides, with Canada breaking the deadlock and England immediately hitting back.

But unlike last September, when they roared on to win 33-13, the Red Roses could not maintain control, with the two teams never separated by more than one try and England unable to convert 20 minutes of sustained pressure into the crucial score.

While acknowledging England would have to review their “game management”, captain Meg Jones hailed the spectacle the two sides delivered.

“It was definitely tit for tat and definitely a game of momentum swinging,” said centre Jones. “It was two good teams going at each other.

“It was an amazing contest and competitive as we imagined. This is the first Test. We get another two shots at it [against Canada].”

Echoing Jones’ defiance before October trips to Toronto and Ottawa, Mitchell added: “We’re in a Test series. It’s 1-1. That’s it.”

England’s 39-game winning run started under former head coach Simon Middleton, who, after the World Cup final defeat in 2022, led the Red Roses to a Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam in 2023.

Mitchell then took charge midway through the 2023 WXV1 campaign and had won every game until this one.

England beat Scotland in the World Cup quarter-finals last September to claim their 31st straight Test win, surpassing their own record winning streak across both men’s and women’s international rugby union, which was set in 2022.

World Cup glory, another Women’s Six Nations title and victory over Australia last weekend extended that record further.

“It’s not necessarily something we speak about as a group; it’s something that’s just been there,” Jones said of the winning run.

“We’re very process-driven, so the outcome tends to look after itself.”