Black Ferns back to their best

New Zealand 42 vs 26 France

The bronze final is always a strange game. Both sides were massively disappointed after missing out on a place in the game that was headlining this occasion, but they both put on a great display today. New Zealand had the better of the first half and were ruthless after soaking up some French pressure. France came out of the blocks quickly, but were unable to make a difference on the score sheet. Jorja Miller proved why she was such a big loss in the semi-final by causing havoc for France with her turnovers and carries. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe had her best game of the tournament and left the pitch in the second half to a much-deserved standing ovation. If that is to be her last game as a Black Fern, it was an excellent send-off in front of a sell-out Twickenham crowd. However, as has been the case for the entire tournament, New Zealand's best winger was an 18-year-old. Braxton Sorensen-McGee scored twice in the bronze final, but that was not the only highlight of her day. She's going home with a bronze medal, the title of top try-scorer. and the award for women's breakthrough player of the year. To put her brilliance in this tournament into context, she scored 11 tries in this World cup and the players in 2nd scored 6 each. 

For all of those positives, this still wasn't a successful World Cup for New Zealand. Young stars like Miller and Sorensen-McGee will provide a brilliant base, from which this team can build for 2029 in Australia, but things have been sliding in the wrong direction for New Zealand for a while. Obviously the Black Ferns have won the previous 2 World Cups, but England have actually been the best team in the World, since 2014, when you exclude those tournaments. That doesn't diminish the success that New Zealand have had, but they'll need to regroup and improve again to reach their usual heights. The other factor for them to worry about is Canada. Including that comprehensive defeat last week, New Zealand have failed to beat Canada in their previous 3 encounters. New Zealand will continue to play Canada on a regular basis so the challenges will continue. Having said that, I do still expect New Zealand to go into the next World Cup amongst the favourites so it's for from a huge concern for the most dominant World Cup team in the history of this sport.

France's position is a little different. They obviously have the talent to win the World Cup, but still cannot get the job done. Their domestic league is strong, and their players are good, so one must look at their coaching. Having joint head coaches is undeniably strange and doesn't seem to have helped tactically. If this French team was given more structure, they could definitely make finals in the future. They'll also be looking over their shoulders at Ireland, who keep coming closer to actually beating the French. It's time for them to lick their wounds and try to rebound for another effort in 4 years time. They would also like to win the 6 nations for the first time since 2018, but England don't look like a team ready to relinquish that title anytime soon.

England, champions of the World!

Canada 13 vs 33 England

A record crowd for women's rugby. and the 2nd biggest crowd for any Rugby World Cup final, was treated to their home team's best performance at the perfect time. This game was always going to be a clash of styles. England's John Mitchell called this game a battle between great rugby (Canada) and effective rugby (England). On Saturday, effective rugby was the winner. 

Canada had been the best starters throughout the World Cup whilst England constantly started slowly, so perhaps it was no surprise that Asia Hogan-Rochester scored the first try of the game in the 4th minute. Besides that try, Canada had the better of the opening minutes and were managing to keep up their ruck speed like they did last week. That momentum was brought to an abrupt halt by Ellie Kildunne scoring a superb individual try just 3 minutes after Canada took the lead. England then took control of the game and played it on their terms. Amy Cokayne scored from a maul which is now a signature part of this Red Roses team. Alex Mathews also crossed in the first half as England continued to pummel Canada. Canada had a spell in England's 22, after Mathews' try, but were unable to take complete advantage. In the end, they settled for a Sophie de Goede penalty which saw them go into half-time 21-8 down.

The defining feature of the first half, and the match as a whole, was the set piece. The scrum, in particular was absolutely brutal. The Red Roses won 100% of their own scrums whilst Canada were only able to win 60% of theirs. It wasn't only that England were winning Canadian scrums, but the manner in which they did it. Canada found themselves consistently driven backwards and conceding advantages whilst England attacked freely. Line-outs were another part of the game in which England established dominance. Canada only won 79% of their own line-outs whilst England won 91% of theirs. The Red Roses also brought out a couple of new tricks, including throwing over the top to an on-coming Tatiana Heard who then made some serious ground off the back of it.

The second half was a lot more even. Abbie Ward scored in the 50th minute and England seemed to be picking up where they left off in the first half. That was the case until Hannah Botterman was given a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. Asia Hogan-Rochester scored just a minute later and Canada were back in the game. Unfortunately, Sophie de Goede missed another conversion so Canada remained 13-points down. England were able to fight through the absence of a 15th player and made some tactical changes across their back line to stabilise the game. Alex Mathews then scored her 2nd of the game with 11 minutes to go and thus, effectively ended the game. England held out for the next 11 minutes and kicked the ball off for a final time to be crowned Champions of the World.

Canada may have lost today, but this World Cup was still a victory as a whole. They still have a core of World-class players, who will still be around in 4 years time. Sophie de Goede is the best of those players and was rewarded with the title of "World player of the year" for her efforts. Kevin Rouet also deserves a mention, having constructed an epic and unique playing style with a group that plays across different continents and formats of the game. Hopefully, they have won plenty of fans back home and can gain enough financial backing to allow them to turn up to World Cups without having to crowd fund to get there.

England are proof that investing in women's sport works. Their investment across England's 3 big sports has already proven to be beyond successful. The Lionesses have won back-to-back European Championships and made a World Cup Final. The Cricket team have won a T-20 World Cup and are in contention for the OD! World Cup that is about to commence in India and Sri Lanka. The Red Roses have been dominant in the Northern hemisphere, but have now had their own pinnacle event at the home of rugby. This should catapult women's rugby into the heart of England's sporting landscape and provide an example to other countries of what can happen when you invest in talented women.