Simon Middleton, the coach for England, has stated that England has developed “something special” in advance of their matchup with New Zealand in the final of the postponed 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will take place in Auckland on Saturday.
The match will be a rematch of the final from 2017, which New Zealand won 41-32 in Belfast to secure their fifth title. The showdown will take place in Dublin.
“There can be no bigger challenge in sport than to play the world champions in their own backyard in front of a sell-out crowd, 99.9 percent of which will be forming part of the opposition,” said Middleton. “There can be no bigger challenge in sport than to play the world champions in their own backyard in front of a sell-out crowd.”
Watching Women’s Rugby World Cup final
“The best teams don’t shrink away from difficult tasks. They accept them and confront them head-on, and that is the approach that we plan to take as well.”
The most up-to-date betting odds are provided, in addition to information on where and how to watch the action on television and online.
In the United Kingdom, the match will be shown on ITV and streamed on the Hub of the respective broadcaster.
In the United States of America, NBC owns the rights to the tournament, and Peacock Premium is where viewers can watch the action.
In Canada, the championship match will be broadcast on TSN.
In Australia, viewers can catch all of the action on Stan Sport.
also read: Australia vs. New Zealand women’s Rugby League World Cup final: When, how to watch, squads, odds
Comparison of the starting lineups for New Zealand and England
Following England’s victory over Canada by a score of 26-19 in the semifinal, coach Middleton made three adjustments to his defensive lineup.
Tatyana Heard and Claudia MacDonald have been replaced by Holly Aitchison and Lydia Thompson, respectively, on the right wing. Ellie Kildunne takes over for the injured Helena Rowland, while Holly Aitchison moves to inside right and Lydia Thompson moves to the right wing.
Ellie Kildunne, Lydia Thompson, Emily Scarratt, Holly Aitchison, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, and Leanne Infante were the players selected to represent England in the starting lineup. Vickii Cornborough, Amy Cokayne, Sarah Bern, Zoe Aldcroft, Abbie Ward, Alex Matthews, Marlie Packer, and Sarah Hunter rounded out the squad.
Lark Davies, Maud Muir, Shaunagh Brown, Cath O’Donnell, Poppy Cleal, Sadia Kabeya, Claudia MacDonald, and Tatyana Heard were the players who came in as replacements.
The only player who will definitely not be playing for New Zealand in the finals is Liana Mikaele-Tu’u (thumb), who was on the team that started and won the semifinal match against France 25-24.
Renee Holmes, Ruby Tui, Stacey Fluhler, Theresa Fitzpatrick, Portia Woodman, Ruahei Demant, and Kendra Cocksedge were the players selected to represent New Zealand. Phillipa Love, Georgia Ponsonby, Amy Rule, Maiakawanakaukani Roos, Chelsea Bremner, Alana Bremner, Sarah Hirini, and Charmaine McMenamin rounded out the lineup.
Luka Connor, Krystal Murray, Santo Taumata, Joanah Ngan-Woo, Kennedy Simon, Arian Bayler, Hazel Tubic, and Ayesha Leti- are the players who come in as replacements.
The odds of winning the Women’s Rugby World Cup final
The fact that the Red Roses have won their last 30 matches makes them the odds-on favorite for an event that Middleton believes New Zealand will find intimidating due to the pressure of living up to the expectations of such a large crowd.
A reminder to the home side that they were the last team to triumph over England is the fact that they won the 2019 Women’s Super Series with a score of 28-13. This should serve as motivation for the hosts. Since then, they have, however, misplaced this fixture on two separate occasions.
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