The 10th Women’s Rugby World Cup final took place from Twickenham Stadium in London, England on Saturday with England defeating Canada 33-13. This was an historic day for worldwide women’s sport. A total of 81,885 were in attendance. This was the most fans ever to see a women’s rugby match.
Who starred for England in the final?
Alexandra Matthews of Camberley was the Red Roses star (pictured in women’s rugby sevens action at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021) as she had two tries to lead the English squad. Matthews’s tries came in the 26th and 69th minutes. The other English players with a try were Ellie Kildune of Keighley and Amy Cokayne of Ipswich. Kildune had a try in the eighth minute and Cokayne had a try in the 19th minute.
England also had excellent kicking from Zoe Harrison of Tring. She made four conversions.
Canada off to a decent start
Team Canada actually scored the first try as Asia Hogan-Rochester of Toronto, Ontario opened the scoring in the fifth minute. However, Sophie de Goede missed the conversion attempt shortly thereafter, and sloppy Canadian defense led to Kildune’s try three minutes later. Hogan-Rochester had Canada’s second try in the 53rd minute.
Canada applied significant pressure on England in the second half, especially after England’s Hannah Botterman was given a yellow card. Canada did get one try in the final 40 minutes, but England displayed exceptional defense to prevent Canada from generating any more points.
Who else did England beat at the Rugby Women’s World Cup?
England went undefeated throughout the tournament. They absolutely clobbered the United States 69-7 in Pool A action. That was followed by a 92-3 win over Samoa, and a 47-7 win over Australia. In the knockout stage, England beat Scotland 40-8 in the quarterfinals, and France 35-17 in the semifinals.
Who was the player of the match in the final?
The player of the match was flanker Sadia Kabeya of London. The 23-year-old plays for the Loughborough Lightning in the Premier 15s. Kabeya, who is of Congolese descent, learned about rugby at school, as her physical education teacher was former England women’s rugby player Bryony Cleall of Norwich.
Third title for England
England has now won three Women’s World Cup Rugby titles. They previously beat the United States 38-23 in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1994, and Canada 21-9 in Paris, France in 2014. That was the only other time Canada was in a Women’s World Cup Rugby final.
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