All-conquering England women embracing their 'aura'

Straits Times

5 days ago

LONDON - England women's coach John Mitchell says his team will be driven by their own, internal standards rather than outside expectations as they enter their home Rugby World Cup on a remarkable run of form that has made them odds-on favourites.
Since 2019 England have won an incredible 55 of their 56 games, but the one defeat still burns as it came in the last World Cup in 2022 when New Zealand snatched a late lineout, and with it victory, on home soil.
Since then the Red Roses have had several wins over the Black Ferns, as well as routinely brushing aside all-comers in Europe, but anything but victory in the September 27 final at Twickenham will render their latest 25-game winning streak another footnote of frustration.
Mitchell, the vastly-experienced New Zealander who took over in 2023, insists, however, that "external noise" will have no impact on the squad he named on Thursday.
"In my time with the Red Roses we have set a standard and it's a standard they look to remain consistent with, something that they're attracted to," he told reporters at Twickenham.
"We are looking at the ability to be successful with opportunity and stay away from the risk of failure and talking about those sorts of things. We're a different team from 2022 and now we've got an opportunity to earn the right and finish something that we started."
Mitchell said the experience and positional cover in the squad is deeper than ever before, which is likely to be vital with the usual collection of injuries, concussions and suspensions a modern World Cup tends to throw up.
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"I think that depth is going to allow us to deal with the challenges but I think the stuff that drives us the most is our competition within," he said. "Some people tend to frame "pressure" as a negative word whereas I see this as an opportunity to be successful.
"Some of the wins we've had in this cycle have been really tough as well, so there's enough belief and there's been enough feedback of where our game needs to improve.
"Our focus is only on our first match against the U.S. and the girls are living those values. There's a nice look in their eyes at the moment as well."
Zoe Aldcroft, appointed as captain this year, is desperate to put the ghosts of 2022 behind her having gone off injured 27 minutes into the final and has also embraced England's dominant position in the sport.
"We have built this expectation around us and I think that's a massive privilege that we've worked hard to hold that aura around us," she said. "As we go into the tournament, we've got such a strong bubble that we kind of want to keep it in with us.
"We know in our circle that we're doing our absolute best to try to push and as long as we've got each other's backs in that circle, I think that's going to be the most important thing."
Another player ready to unleash herself in the tournament is back rower Abi Burton, a double Olympian in Sevens but whose career appeared over when she spent more than 10 weeks in hospital with an auto-immune disease in 2022, including 28 days in a coma, having initially been sectioned after being wrongly diagnosed as psychotic.
"I knew in my heart that I would get here at some point, though I didn't know how long it would take me to be able to break in, especially after my illness," said Burton, who made her England XVs debut in this year's Six Nations and goes into the World Cup with two caps to her name.
"Mum and dad are super proud but they don't base their pride on how I do at rugby. They're more proud that I finished university after my illness. They're just happy that I'm alive and I'm functioning well and I can live on my own." REUTERS