TWICKENHAM, London — England have accepted the fact they will carry extra pressure and responsibility into next year’s home World Cup, but if they do go all the way in 12-months’ time and win the tournament for the first time in a decade, fans are in for an epic journey on and off the pitch.
Coach John Mitchell’s side are pairing hold-on-to-your-hat running rugby with a gritty underbelly that has them well covered on both sides of the ball. The stage for next year’s final, Allianz Stadium (formerly Twickenham), was picture-perfect on Saturday as England romped to a 24-12 win over rivals New Zealand.
It was exactly what England needed to send a clear message to the rugby world: We are now the team to beat.
Under the bright London sky, the Red Roses flourished in front of an excitable crowd that erupted with every run, goose-step and dummy pass the hosts pulled off.
They passed the toughest test women’s rugby has to offer in style. If England and New Zealand do meet in the final next year, Mitchell’s side will take plenty of confidence from this match.
However, England have been here before, with a supremely impressive record leading into the previous World Cup where they failed to finish the job.
This time around, they’re on a 17-game winning run dating back to that 2022 final in Auckland. But that will mean nothing come next year, something Mitchell, who by his own admission is a “hard marker,” is all too aware of.
“We gave them some possession and we gave them some soft tries as well, so, all our own doing, which is good because, the last World Cup we went to, we didn’t get these kind of lessons at this the time of year. [It was] really good for us,” Mitchell told a post-match news conference.
It is of course the Black Ferns who are world champions and deserve the respect that comes with that. Mitchell lamented the fact his side didn’t kill the game off in the second half against such dangerous opposition.
“When you’ve got the foot on the throat, finish it,” he said. “There’s a particular way to play New Zealand, as you can see … because they run from 100 metres out and they’ve got soft areas in them if you’re prepared to stay collective and work.”
In a show of the exciting and fast-paced rugby the teams pride themselves on, there were early warnings from both sets of outside backs who looked fearsome when they found space. Ayesha Leti’Iiga left Ellie Kildunne in her wake as she broke free on the left-hand side, before the England fullback hunted her down and won the ball back.
England’s Abby Dow then had her turn with a blistering run down her team’s right flank as both sides looked to land the first blow. It finally came when England cranked up the pressure with their devastating rolling maul as the dominant forward pack got the rewards, with captain Marlie Packer scored the opening try.
It then became one way traffic in the first half. Dow danced and dazzled her way down the touchline to score England’s second, before Kildunne — a superstar whose every touch of the ball prompted a frenzy from the crowd — pierced the Black Ferns’ defence to add a third. Again, the forwards did the work that allowed the backs to put the icing on the cake.
“As a forward pack, we like to assert our dominance. If we get that right, then it allows our backs to play,” lock Zoe Aldcroft said after the game. “So it’s really important that we kind of take the legs from the opposite forwards and take their balls in the air as well.
“Defensively, I think we put a pretty good effort in today. [It’s] really important that we get that right and we’re dominant as a follow pack.”
England weren’t perfect, but they did pass the sternest test on offer with flying colours. New Zealand were rusty, which in fairness they have a right to be at this stage of the season. But the result will serve as a stark warning to the Kiwis and the rest of the world that they will likely need to be near flawless if they’re to retain their World Cup crown.