Red Roses ranked third in Rugby World Cup last eight
England’s rugby union women have, unsurprisingly, reached the last eight of the Rugby World Cup. They were, and remain, overwhelming favourites for the tournament – yet they’re only ranked third out of the eight quarter-finalists.
Ahead of them are New Zealand and Canada, who topped their respective pools, with the rankings handing Simon Middleton’s Red Roses a tie against Australia.
The Red Roses chose consistency in their opening two matches knowing wins in both would secure them a spot in the knockouts, but changed it up for their final pool match against South Africa.
England’s 75-0 win over the South Africans on Sunday saw 13 changes from the tough match-up against France and allowed Middleton to experiment slightly with his formations and pre-set moves.
But England are now one of three sides who are yet to be beaten in New Zealand and they’ll fancy themselves, as favourites, to reach the final in Auckland next month.
In the other quarter-finals New Zealand will face Wales, France will play underdogs Italy and Canada will face off against North American rivals the United States.
Should England get past Australia – who have played well despite looking quite fractured – they will face off against one of either Canada or the USA.
There is, therefore, a potential match against the reigning champions New Zealand in the final to come.
England couldn’t last the 80 last time out in the 2017 Rugby World Cup final and came a cropper to the Black Ferns but this year they’re looking on top – Middleton’s women humiliated New Zealand twice in two weeks last year and have developed since.
“We haven’t got to the quarter-finals through luck, we have played hard, tough rugby,” said Packer, who scored on Sunday morning against South Africa.
“We aren’t going to take our foot off the gas. An England versus Australia clash, in any sport, is one to relish.”
“If you look at that opening game, they really posed questions of New Zealand.
“If anything in that first 20 minutes they should have scored more points.
“I am super excited to have drawn them because at a World Cup you want to play teams you don’t often play, who can challenge you in different areas.”
Australia were hammered 41-17 by New Zealand on the opening day of the tournament – which was delayed due to reasons relating to Covid-9 – before beating Scotland 14-12.
In their final match the Australians managed to edge Wales by 13-7 to secure their second win and a tie against the tournament favourites.
“They have some fantastic players, they know how to shift the ball around and you can really see that sevens influence they have,” England head coach Middleton said.
“As a coaching group we have talked about their strategy for their tournament and how brilliantly they managed their squad,” he added when asked about Lionesses’ coach Sarina Wiegman, who was watching on, and her coaching style.
“I am always keen to catch up with quality coaches and share ideas and if there is an opportunity going forward that would be great.”
The Red Roses are still in the mix, and they’ll fancy their chances, but it is a World Cup and knockout rugby is brutal – there’s no guarantee of progression at the weekend.