‘We have not won anything’ – why England won’t celebrate reaching final

England defeated France 3-0, and prop Hannah Botterman won the Women’s Rugby World Cup final, arguably with her career best performance.

Ellie Kildunne scored the opening try with a pass that the 26-year-old powerfully carried for 53 minutes while holding up three fingers to show how many turnovers she made in the first half.

She was still eligible for player of the match despite only playing just over a half of rugby after missing Scotland’s quarter-final victory due to a back spasm.

After suffering an injury the day before her 2022 World Cup semi-final against Canada, Botterman was the one who deserved to celebrate making it to the next Saturday’s final against Canada at Twickenham.

When Botterman inquired about any celebrations, Botterman replied, “No.” “We have not won anything,” the statement read.

The Red Roses’ attitude is unwavering: work must be completed.

When it was most important in the World Cup final, three years ago, their previous 30-game record was broken.

England has a record 32 games to win, which places them at the top of the world.

A home World Cup final was anticipated, but it frequently exacerbates that pressure.

Les Bleues, who had a number of try-scoring opportunities in a strong opening period, gave Mitchell’s side a 7-5 lead at half-time.

However, Botterman and England both made strong defenses to keep the lead.

With Kildunne’s second, an incredible individual score, adding sparkle to an attack that struggled to click, hooker Amy Cokayne and Abbie Ward crossed in the second half to ease any fears of an upset.

With just one minute left, England had found a way to secure their spot in the standings without playing brilliantly. The scoreline was comfortable.

Former England captain Katy Daley-McLean told BBC One, “England’s attack didn’t work as we anticipated, but the forwards did the job.”

“Ellie Kildunne will win the headlines, but it was won first.”

In contrast, Canada won 34-19 with a strong first-half performance and scored four tries.

The Red Roses, who have been a professional since 2019, may be ranked second, but Kevin Rouet side’s are incredibly different from their amateur status.

To help Canada defeat the hosts of the World Cup in the event that it needed to raise a sum of 530 000 (C $1m) had to be organized.

Head coach for England John Mitchell, who hasn’t lost since taking over the 2023 men’s World Cup, is unconcerned with the semi-final results.

He told BBC One, “It will be a collective plan, the two best teams in the world playing in the final,” and that is awesome for the game.

Given that their fundraising campaign was called “Mission: Win Rugby World Cup,” they are not content to reach the sold-out showpiece.

Lock Sophie de Goede made it clear that there is still “one more job to do” for her after her stellar performance against Australia and the Black Ferns.

A late try by England at last year’s WXV1 will only serve to boost the team’s motivation after nine points.

Lesley McKenzie, a former Canada international and current head coach of Japan, believes that the Maple Leafs can be a real threat in the final.

McKenzie told BBC Sport that “France gave a template on how to penetrate England’s skin.”

The key difference between Canada’s next week’s games and unstructured rugby is that they are fit and that will cause real trouble next week.

Following back-to-back defeats to New Zealand, England are hoping to win their seventh consecutive World Cup title.

The Red Roses’ most recent defeat came in the 2022 final at Eden Park, where England heavily relied on their driving maul.

“With that offload game and keeping the ball alive,” Daley-McLean said, the way Canada defeated New Zealand on Friday is similar to how France fought back against England.

“England will have to go away and take that into account now because they won’t be able to rely on Meg Jones and Hannah Botterman to make turnovers] to solve their problems.