- On September 27 next year, English rugby will host the final of the 2025 World Cup
- Victory over New Zealand represents an important statement for England.
If England Women can achieve a similar result to what we saw here in just over 12 months, then the RFU bigwigs will be more than happy.
On 27 September next year, English rugby will host the final of the 2025 World Cup.
That game will most likely be a meeting between these two teams, so while it was a pre-season friendly with nothing at stake, it represented a major statement from England’s Red Roses.
It’s their big gamble in the World Cup. In the end, they were too good for New Zealand, despite not being anywhere near their best. England’s first quarter was poor and allowed their opponents to get back into the game when they were in control.
It should be noted that both teams will improve in this area. The Black Ferns’ ability to upset the established order at the World Cup should not be discounted, but the fact is that England have not lost since defeating their southern hemisphere rivals in the 2022 final.
England beat New Zealand 24-12 in a pre-season match at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday
Victory over New Zealand represents an important statement for England ahead of the World Cup.
“When you have your foot on their throat, they finish,” said England manager John Mitchell when asked what lessons his team would learn ahead of the World Cup. “Our discipline in the last 20 metres of the pitch got them through, but I’m pretty happy with where we are.”
Mitchell’s players were the first England team to play at the newly-named Allianz Stadium since the RFU decided to sell the naming rights to a stadium that will forever be known as Twickenham.
England’s tackling and kicking were not up to par early in the game in front of a crowd of 41,523. The RFU wants to almost double that figure and sell out the 2025 final.
England scored three tries through captain Marlie Packer, a signature goal from Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne. Zoe Aldcroft’s yellow card for a high tackle and the time running out for Holly Aitchison’s attempt to convert were low points. But while it is right to demand the highest standards from what is by far the best women’s team, the reality is that England still had enough to win.
When their defenders move the ball in attack, no team can compete with them and their forwards’ ability to break the line in phase play is a potent weapon.
Scrum-half Natasha Hunt scored the fourth before Katelyn Vahaakolo finally gave New Zealand reward for their enterprising attacking play with a quickfire double.
England fly-half Aitchison’s lack of touch after a scrum surge was the sort of mistake her team can’t make in tighter games, but in the end this wasn’t one of them.
John Mitchell’s players were the first England team to play at the newly renamed Allianz Stadium.
Mitchell was not concerned about injuries to forwards Maddie Feaunati (cramp) and Amy Cokayne (arm) ahead of England’s next assignment – the WXV1 tournament in Canada later this month.
New Zealand co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu said a World Cup final with England would be the “pinnacle” but acknowledged her team made too many mistakes in their first match since July.
Mitchell also noted that his team still had some rust from earlier in the season. This win followed last week’s victory over France.
“We could have buried them, but we didn’t,” Mitchell said. “It was a satisfying performance. We overcame a shaky start to get something done.”
“There’s a lot of pressure, but I can’t be too hard on the girls. This match was exactly what we wanted.”