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‘We have to win it’: England coach Simon Middleton sends out a rallying cry as he confirms his squad for next month’s World Cup with the Red Roses’ big favorites ahead of the New Zealand tournament
- Simon Middleton says England should win the World Cup next month
- The English coach has selected a roster of 32 players for the final in New Zealand
- Abby Dow is part of the roster, but there is no room for scrum half Natasha Hunt
- Red Roses are the favorites of the World Cup and have a winning streak of 25 games in a row
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“We have to win it,” Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton said on Tuesday after the confirmation of his 32-man England squad for next month’s World Cup in New Zealand.
You could misinterpret Middleton’s comments as overconfidence or as tempting fate, but they are in fact neither and just reflect how far ahead of the rest his team is right now.
England are heavy, heavy favorites to claim global glory in the southern hemisphere and to do anything other than that will be a failure.
England coach Simon Middleton says his side must meet their billing at the World Cup
Middleton acknowledged that. He is right to be both confident and to demand that his team perform.
England have won the last 25 games in a row and possess a strength in depth and a power play that no other country can currently match.
‘We have to win it. This is the best prepared squad with the best depth we’ve ever had,” said Middleton. “We’re as ready as can be. You can’t guarantee you’ll win it because it doesn’t work that way, but we have everything at our disposal.
“You can see the quality of the players we have in the players we left out.”
Abby Dow has been included in the roster of 32 players despite injuries since the six countries
Middleton cited Andy Ruiz Jr’s defeat to Anthony Joshua and Wimbledon’s shocking 1988 FA Cup final victory over Liverpool as examples of shocks that could serve as a warning to England. But the reality is that it will take a huge shock of gigantic proportions not to reach the final at Eden Park in Auckland on November 12.
The headline omission from Middleton’s squad was scrum half Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt, but winger Abby Dow has made the cut despite not playing since breaking her leg against Wales in the Six Nations. Dow isn’t quite fit yet, but her recovery from even being selected is remarkable.
“The role of our nine is a very simple role,” Middleton said. “Mo plays a very different game. That’s not a criticism of Mo, it fits perfectly with what we did a few years ago.’