England enjoyed a significant 21-8 halftime lead after outscoring Canada, appearing in just their second final, three tries to one in the opening 40 minutes.
Canada’s Asia Hogan-Rochester opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute before England hit back through Ellie Kildunne, Amy Cokayne and Matthews.
First five-eighths Zoe Harrison converted all three of those tries in front of a crowd that comfortably surpassed the previous highest attendance for a stand-alone 15-a-side women’s international of 58,498 at Twickenham for England’s 2023 Six Nations match clash against France.
England’s forward power proved increasingly telling and lock Abbie Ward’s try early in the second half put the Red Roses in command at 26-8 before Matthews, after a period of sustained Canada pressure, scored her second try 11 minutes from time.
England and Canada, first and second in the world rankings respectively, were unchanged from their semifinal wins, with Canada hugely impressive in dethroning double defending champions New Zealand 34-19 and England less convincing in defeating France 35-17.
Canada, who launched a crowdfunding campaign to help bolster their dreams of World Cup glory, struck first against the Red Roses – the best-resourced team in the women’s game.
Hogan-Rochester’s well-judged grubber kick gave Canada excellent field position, with the Maple Leafs then disrupting the ensuing England lineout before the left wing sprinted in down the touchline.
Goalkicking lock de Goede was unlucky to see her conversion bounce back off the post.
Canada’s lead lasted just two minutes, however, as England hit back through Kildunne, the world player of the year.
The fullback, fresh from two tries against France, left two defenders in her slipstream as a typical slalom run saw her score a superb try between the posts.
England’s forwards, with Sadia Kabeya outstanding, then scored in familiar fashion when a driving maul ended with hooker Cokayne being shoved over for a 19th-minute try.
Even though Canada, with several players at clubs in England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby competition, knew what was coming their way, they were unable to deal with their opponents’ forward power in the 26th minute.
Halfback Natasha Hunt peeled away from the base of an advancing England scrum and nearly scored herself before releasing Matthews, who dived over for a try.
De Goede landed a simple 34th-minute penalty to cut England’s lead to 13 points.
It seemed England had another driving maul try minutes later but it was disallowed for offside following a review by the television match official.
But England did have a fourth try in the 50th minute, when, following several close-range drives, Ward powered over Canada’s line.
England, however, were soon reduced to 14 players when hooker Hannah Botterman was yellow-carded for dump-tackling Canada veteran Karen Paquin.
Hogan-Rochester made the advantage count, exploiting an overlap out wide to score her second try of the final in the 53rd minute to cut England’s lead to 26-13.
Canada, with Botterman still in the sin bin, kept pressing for another try, only to spoil a promising position near England’s line with a knock-on from a tap penalty.
Matthews then put the result beyond doubt, driving low and hard for a try converted by Harrison as England posted a 14th consecutive win over Canada.
