England 33
Canada 13
ALEX MATTHEWS SCORED two tries as tournament hosts and favourites England ended their long wait to win a third Women’s Rugby World Cup title with a 33-13 victory over Canada in a Twickenham final on Saturday.
Victory in front of a record crowd of 81,885 gave England their first world title since defeating Canada 21-9 in the 2014 final in Paris — a match in which No 8 Matthews played — and third in total following their 1994 triumph.
This success also extended England’s record run to 33 consecutive wins, with the Red Roses having won 63 of their past 64 matches — the lone blemish a defeat by New Zealand in the Covid-delayed 2022 final.
It was a much-needed win for an England side whose temperament had been repeatedly called into question after five defeats by New Zealand in the previous six World Cup finals.
England enjoyed a significant 21-8 half-time 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.
Fly-half 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 semi-final 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 crowd-funding 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 line-out before the left wing sprinted in down the touchline.
Goal-kicking lock Sophie 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 full-back, 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.
Scrum-half 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.
Written by AFP and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
