England make a statement ahead of next year’s women’s Rugby World Cup as Red Roses beat New Zealand 24-12 at the Allianz Stadium

If the England women’s team can achieve the same results as here in just over 12 months’ time, the bigwigs at the RFU will be more than pleased.

The 2025 World Cup final will take place in English rugby on September 27 next year.

In all probability, it will be a match between these two teams. Although this was a pre-season friendly with nothing at stake, it was still an important statement from the English Red Roses.

It is their global showpiece to lose. In the end they were too good for New Zealand, despite not playing anywhere near their best. England’s first quarter was poor and they let the opposition back into the game when they were in control.

It should be noted that both teams will improve in this regard. Don’t underestimate the Black Ferns’ ability to shake things up when the World Cup starts, but the fact remains that England have not lost since the 2022 final, which was defeated by their southern hemisphere rivals.

The victory over New Zealand is an important statement for England in the run-up to the World Cup

“If you’ve got your foot on their throat, finish them off,” said England Kiwi head coach John Mitchell when asked what lessons his team would learn ahead of the World Cup. “Our discipline in the last 20 metres of the pitch let them off the hook, but I’m pretty happy with where we are at the moment.”

Mitchell’s players were the first England side to play at the new Allianz Stadium since the RFU decided to sell the naming rights to a stadium that will always be known to most as Twickenham.

England’s tackling and kicking were initially sub-par, with a crowd of 41,523 watching. The RFU wants to almost double that number and sell out the 2025 final.

England still scored three tries through captain Marlie Packer, a trademark Abby Dow try and Ellie Kildunne. Zoe Aldcroft’s yellow card for a high tackle and Holly Aitchison running out of time with a conversion attempt were negative moments. But while it is right to demand the highest standards from what is by far the best women’s team, the reality is that England still had plenty left in the tank to win.

When their defenders move the ball in attack, no team can match them. Their attackers’ ability to break the line in phase play is a powerful weapon.

Scrumhalf Natasha Hunt scored the fourth before Katelyn Vahaakolo finally rewarded New Zealand for their enterprising attacking play with a quickfire double.

England fly-half Aitchison missed the ball after a scrum attack. It was a mistake her team can’t make in close games, but in the end this wasn’t one of them.

John Mitchell’s players were the first English side to play at the newly named Allianz Stadium

Mitchell was not concerned about injuries to forwards Maddie Feaunati (cramp) and Amy Cokayne (arm) ahead of England’s next assignment – the WXV1 tournament in Canada later this month.

New Zealand co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu said a World Cup final with England would be the “highlight” but admitted her team made too many mistakes in their first match since July.

Mitchell also pointed out that his team still had a bit of early season rust, with this win following last week’s victory over France.

“We probably could have buried them but we didn’t quite do that,” Mitchell said. “It was a satisfying performance. We worked through a shaky start to get some

pressure, but I can’t be too hard on the girls. This game was exactly what we wanted.’