AUCKLAND, New Zealand — To play without fear and enjoy the moment, that’s all that England captain Sarah Hunter has asked from her team as they head into Saturday night’s World Cup final against the Black Ferns in a rematch of the 2017 decider.
With 30 straight wins under their belt, including two record victories over the Black Ferns this time last year, the Red Roses head into the match as overwhelming favourites as they eye a title that will solidify their place as the best women’s rugby team of all time.
Despite the pressure building on England, Hunter says there’s been a sense of calmness that has enveloped the group ahead of the weekend.
“I think we’ve had such a great week,” Hunter said Thursday. “We’ve had a great week of training; we’ve had a great week of being together. It just feels really relaxed, it doesn’t feel like we’re about to play a final, and I think that’s exactly where you want the squad to be, both staff and players.
“There’s just been a sense of calmness and enjoying the week. I think anyone that was at training yesterday could see the energy that was there, the enjoyment of our Wednesday session that I don’t think we’ve ever said before, Wednesdays are our toughest sessions, and I just think there’s that the real sense of wanting to be together.”
Preparing for her fourth World Cup Final and her third against the Black Ferns, the No. 8 has shared experience across the England squad.
“Just go in and play without fear,” Hunter told her team. “There are things in life that you don’t get to do very often, and very few people get to do, and that’s to play in a World Cup final and for people just to be themselves and to enjoy it, if you don’t enjoy playing in the biggest occasions then you’re in the wrong place.
“We just want people to be in that [moment] and just go enjoy themselves, play without that fear, without the pressure of what will be because there’s one thing for sure that we’ve seen with this group that whatever they do in games, they’ll put their best version out. We’ll be as best as we can be, we’ll give it everything.
“In sport things don’t always go your way, but we’ll always look back and know that we have done everything we can do on Saturday and regardless of the result we can be proud of that.”
Things haven’t all gone England’s way in the lead-up to Saturday’s clash, with coach Simon Middleton forced to make changes to his semifinal-winning team after fullback Helena Rowland was ruled out through an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, prop Hannah Botterman will also miss the match with a knee injury she suffered at training last week, which had kept her out of the team’s thrilling win over Canada.
Changing up his back three, Middleton has brought Ellie Kildunne off the bench and into the No. 15 jersey, while Lydia Thompson has taken the right wing, pushing Abby Dow to the left and Claudia MacDonald onto the bench.
In another change, the Red Roses have given Holly Aitchison the starting inside centre role over Tatyana Heard with the latter slotting onto the bench, alongside Sadia Kabeya who’s expected to play a crucial impact role in the later stages of the clash.
“We looked at the back three combination, obviously with going on a 6/2 on the bench meant that we thought it was definitely better to have Claudia on the bench so we’ve got that nine or wing option that she can cover,” Middleton said of the selection choices.
“They were the main ones but again, Tat’s [Tatyana] been in great form but we just looked at this game we thought, probably just how we want to play it might just suit Holly a little bit better.
“When you’re putting the team together and you look at some of the players who were not involved and you feel like ‘can we really afford to leave that player out’ and then you look at what the options are going to be, we could have very easily gone a traditional 5/3 [split]; whichever way you go, it has positives and potential weaknesses as such.
“But we’re really happy with what we’ve got. It’s going to be a physical game, we’re going to need a lot of energy on the field, and you know the impact Sadia had when she came on last week was quite phenomenal.”
With over 40,000 tickets sold for the blockbuster clash at Eden Park, the Red Roses are anticipating entering a hostile environment with over 90% of the crowd expected to be Black Ferns supporters.
While the popular belief is that overwhelming share of support will give the Black Ferns an edge, Middleton has adopted an opposite view.
“I don’t think it will [give the Black Ferns an advantage] I honestly don’t think it will. You can look at it two ways, can’t you, it’d be more intimidating for them. To lose in front of your home crowd is a tough gig, so the pressure on them is absolutely massive,” he said.
“We’ve been in some pretty hostile environments, Bayonne this year was incredible, but you thrive on it. I watched the girls come off the field at the end of the warmup in Bayonne when we’re going for the Six Nations against France in France, again probably as tough as it can be, and the crowd were really getting stuck into them and you could see them lifting, and Saturday will be no different. I’m absolutely convinced — I think we’re absolutely relishing it.”
England: Ellie Kildunne, Lydia Thompson, Emily Scarratt, Holly Aitchison, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Leanne Infante, Sarah Hunter, Marlie Packer, Alex Matthews, Abbie Ward, Zoe Aldcroft, Sarah Bern, Amy Cockayne, Vickii Cornborough. Replacements: Lark Davies, Maud Miller, Shaunagh Brown, Cath O’Donnell, Poppy Cleall, Sadia Kabeya, Claudia MacDonald, Tatyana.