By Mitch Phillips
LONDON (Reuters) -England finally delivered when it really mattered on Saturday when they outclassed Canada 33-13 in front of a delirious record 81,885 Twickenham crowd to win the Women’s Rugby World Cup for the third time on a memorable day for the sport.
England came into the game having won 62 of their last 63 games spanning six years, with the glaring failure being their agonising World Cup final defeat to New Zealand in 2022 – one of six final defeats.
This time, however, they made no mistake, racing to a 21-8 halftime lead, defending well when they had to, then finishing strongly to extend their record winning run to 33 games and underline their status as the sport’s superpower.
“These girls are awesome,” said coach John Mitchell as England added to their triumphs of 1994 and 2014. “Three years ago we set about doing something and we finally took the last few steps today.
“I think 2022 taught us a lot. We knew we would be good at the rugby but at the end of the day I think our culture won, with the values that have guided us to this point.
“We can dominate the world for a long time but the world’s going to get better, so this is just the start.”
For England, but also for the whole of women’s rugby, it was a wonderful occasion to cap off a tournament that has dwarfed the nine that came before.
“This is unimaginable,” said England scrumhalf Natasha Hunt. “I am so proud of the girls. I hope this stays for women’s rugby.”
Relentless flanker and player of the match Sadia Kabeya said: “It’s amazing. Thank you to everyone who came out here today. It’s a pinch-me moment. It’s been years and years in the making, I am so happy we could pull it off.”
Around 50,000 fans filed into Twickenham early to see New Zealand beat France 42-26 in the Bronze final and by the time the teams ran out for the main event the biggest crowd by far to watch a women’s rugby match were at fever pitch.
CANADA TAKE EARLY LEAD
The air went out of the balloon somewhat after five minutes as Canada, who had to crowd-fund their trip, stole a lineout and sent Asia Hogan-Rochester over for the opening try.
It proved only the briefest of blips, however, as England recovered and quickly stamped their authority on the match.
They hit back through their sharpest attacker and the crowd’s darling – world player of the year Ellie Kildunne – who scythed through four defenders to score a trademark try under the posts.
Three years ago Kildunne scored in the third minute of the final as England raced into an early 14-0 lead, only to eventually lose 34-31.
This time, however, they kept their foot on the throat and did not allow Canada, ranked second in the world, a sniff as they turned to their other point-accumulating USP, the driving maul, to send Amy Cokayne over for a second try.
The third came via the strength of number eight Alex Matthews, appearing in her fourth World Cup final and, with Zoe Harrison converting all three tries, it was 21-8 at halftime.
The players ran off to a rousing rendition of “Swing Low”, albeit at a higher pitch than usual as the thousands of youngsters, particularly girls, serenaded their new heroes.
It took 10 minutes of the second half for England to get their fourth try, their relentless pounding forwards smashing a path for Abbie Ward to score.
Canada, with half their squad still semi-professional, showed terrific spirit as Hogan-Rochester got a second try and they enjoyed a spell camped on the England line, but the hosts survived and, as they usually do, finished strongly as Matthews got a second try and the crowd were able to relax and roar them home.
As England’s players celebrated with friends and family, the Canadian squad huddled with their staff to reflect on their own remarkable against-the-odds performance to even reach the final.
Appearing in their second final after losing that 2014 decider, Canada were unable to reproduce the pace and aggression that stunned New Zealand in the semi-finals and had no answer to England’s relentless assaults
“It’s frustrating for us because we know we didn’t play our best game,” said their coach Kevin Rouet.
“But I’m very proud of what they did, the sacrifice they made for three years just to get there. It was just missing 80 minutes of good rugby for us to be world champions.”
(Reporting By Samuel Indyk, Lawrence White and Mitch Phillips; editing by Clare Fallon)
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