England’s women eye further dominance after Rugby World Cup win

LONDON – England coach John Mitchell insisted the Red Roses could “dominate the world for a long time”, after their 33-13 win over Canada in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham on Sept 27.

The victory ended England’s long wait to win a third world title to set alongside their 1994 and 2014 triumphs.

No. 8 Alex Matthews, a world champion 11 years ago when England also beat Canada in the final, scored two of their five tries on Sept 27.

England, the best resourced team in women’s rugby union and with the most competitive domestic league – Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) – had long been regarded as favourites to be crowned world champions on home soil.

But the fact they had won just once in six successive final appearances, including

an agonising 34-31 defeat by New Zealand

in the Covid-delayed 2022 showpiece in Auckland – had raised questions about their ability under pressure.

Canada’s Asia Hogan-Rochester tried to reopen those doubts with a fifth-minute try in front of a sell-out crowd of 81,885 – a record for a women’s 15-a-side match – at the headquarters of English rugby union.

England, however, led 21-8 at half-time, thanks to tries from fullback Ellie Kildunne, hooker Amy Cokayne and Matthews.

Abbie Ward added another try early in the second half before Matthews powered over 11 minutes from time as England extended their own record run to 33 successive wins.

“These girls are awesome,” said Mitchell, brought into the England women’s set-up after the 2022 final with the specific aim of winning the World Cup.

The 61-year-old New Zealander, a former head coach of the All Blacks and England’s defence chief when they were

beaten in the 2019 men’s World Cup final

by South Africa, added: “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 can dominate the world for a long time but the world’s going to get better, so this is just the start.”

Zoe Aldcroft, England’s elated captain, said: “We have had 33 wins in a row and we have finally put the cherry on top of the cake by winning the World Cup.

“It feels great. Honestly, it’s unbelievable. It is literally what dreams are made of.”

She hesitated when asked if England are the greatest women’s rugby team of all time, before saying: “It definitely kind of feels like that.”

Canada, second in the world rankings behind England, were superb in ending two-time defending champions New Zealand’s reign with a 34-19 semi-final victory.

But they again came up short in their second World Cup final against an England team who raised their game when it mattered most.

The Red Roses’ World Cup win follows success for their footballing counterparts at the women’s European Championship earlier in 2025, when they beat world champions Spain on penalties.

“You only have to look at the Six Nations and how we’ve grown. I think it’s amazing how far we’ve come. Women’s sport is on a high,” centre and World Player of the Year nominee Meg Jones said.

Canada launched a crowdfunding campaign entitled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup 2025 in an attempt to raise C$1 million (S$930,000) ahead of the tournament.

Despite several players being attached to PWR clubs, Canada coach Kevin Rouet revealed some of his squad members earned around only £400 (S$690) a month playing rugby.

“We need to just keep growing the women’s game to help them not decide ‘do I have a life or do I play rugby’?” he said.

Canada captain Alex Tessier, who plays in the PWR for Exeter, insisted funding was not the reason her side lost the final.

“That’s not what made the difference tonight,” she said. “I think we could have won it with whatever budget we had.”

Rouet was left thinking of what might have been.

“It’s frustrating for us because we know we didn’t play our best game,” said the Frenchman.

“It was just missing 80 minutes of good rugby for us to be world champions.” AFP, REUTERS