England and Canada will meet on Saturday in the World Cup final as the two highest ranked teams in women’s rugby union chase the sport’s biggest prize.
World number one outfit and tournament hosts England overcame France to reach their seventh successive final.
England, who have been fully professional since 2019, are bidding to win the World Cup for a third time and are targeting a first title since beating Canada in the 2014 final.
The Red Roses have won a world record 32 successive Test matches and go into the final as favourites.
They are also seeking to make up for the heartbreak of the 2022 final where their 30-match winning streak was ended in a 34-31 loss to New Zealand.
Canada outclassed defending champions New Zealand on Friday to reach their second final.
They are not professional and set up a £530,000 (C$1m) fundraising drive – titled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup – to help them prepare for the tournament.
Where is the final being played?
The final will be held at Twickenham in front of what is set to be a record crowd for a one-off women’s rugby match.
Who are the captains?
England are captained by Zoe Aldcroft. Born in Scarborough, the 28-year-old can play as a lock but has featured as a blind-side flanker in the past two matches.
She missed the second and third pool stage games, having suffered a knee injury in the win over the United States that opened the tournament on 22 August.
Aldcroft led England to the Women’s Six Nations title earlier this year after taking over the captaincy from Marlie Packer in January.
New to rugby? Here’s a guide:
Who are the coaches?
England are coached by former All Blacks boss John Mitchell. The 61-year-old New Zealander worked with the England men’s team’s forwards from 1997 to 2000, and was their defence coach from 2018 to 2021. He succeeded Simon Middleton as head coach of the women’s team in 2023 and has won every game since taking over.
Who are the star players?
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England’s Ellie Kildunne is the face of the tournament, and she bounced back from missing the quarter-final win over Scotland after a concussion injury by delivering in fine style against France.
The full-back hit her stride with two superb tries at Ashton Gate, having only flickered briefly in her two previous outings at this World Cup.
She was also sporting eye-catching cheetah-print footwear from her boot sponsor for the first time, and has been prominent in much of the advertising for the tournament.
Canada standout Sophie de Goede is a rugby rarity as a goal-kicking lock forward, and with 58 points she is the second-highest scorer in the World Cup so far.
The final offers her a chance to go past New Zealand’s Braxton Sorensen-McGee, who has 59 points prior to the third-placed play-off against France that takes place before the final itself.
Who are the teams’ leading try-scorers?
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England have scored 43 tries in the tournament, while Canada have managed 35.
Full-back Julia Schell has scored six tries for Canada, all in an extraordinary 23-minute spell in her side’s opening pool match against Fiji.
Head-to-head record
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England and Canada have faced each other 37 times, with England winning 33 of these encounters, Canada three, and there was a 13-13 draw at the 2014 World Cup.
England are on a roll, having won the last 13 meetings between the sides, with Canada’s last win coming in Salt Lake City just over nine years ago.
Route to the final
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England reached the final with a 35-17 win over France at Ashton Gate, extending their world record winning run to 32 matches.
They had powered past Scotland 40-8 in the quarter-finals, having beaten the United States, Samoa and Australia to win Pool A.
The Red Roses have scored 283 points across their five games and conceded just 42.
Canada reached Twickenham thanks to an enthralling 34-19 win over defending world champions New Zealand in their semi-final.
Previous World Cup finals
There have been nine previous Women’s World Cups but only three nations have lifted the trophy – New Zealand (six times), England (twice) and the United States (once).
England have played in eight finals but only won two of them, in 1994 and 2014.
Canada lost on their only previous appearance in a final, falling to England in 2014.
The United States won the inaugural tournament in Cardiff.
2021: New Zealand 34-31 England – Eden Park, Auckland*
*competition was postponed to 2022 because of Covid pandemic
2017: New Zealand 41-32 England – Ravenhill, Belfast
2014: England 21-9 Canada – Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris
2010: New Zealand 13-10 England – Twickenham Stoop, London
2006: New Zealand 25-17 England – Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton
2002: New Zealand 19-9 England – Olympic Stadium, Barcelona
1998: New Zealand 44-12 USA – National Rugby Centre Stadium, Amsterdam
1994: England 38-23 USA – Raeburn Place, Edinburgh
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What happens if the scores are level at full-time?
If the teams are tied at full-time the match will go into sudden-death extra time.
There are two halves of 10 minutes allocated and the first team to score any points will win the match.
When is the World Cup final?
How can I follow the World Cup final?
The match kicks off at 16:00 BST and will be shown live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
BBC One & iPlayer will be live from 15:00 until 18:35, with radio commentary of the whole match on Sports Extra from 15:45 and on 5 Live from 17:00.
Is there a third-place play-off?
Losing semi-finalists New Zealand and France face each other in the Rugby World Cup third-place play-off.
Related topics
- Rugby Union
Source: BBC
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