Anticipation is building ahead of next year’s showpiece where the host’s greatest obstacle may well be themselves
England have the perfect run at the World Cup. Unless something crazy happens on the other side of the draw, they will be running out at Twickenham in front of 80,000 people on Sept 27 next year.
The biggest challenge they face is the pressure off the pitch. When I played in a home World Cup in 2010, nobody really knew about it but the pressure from friends and family and those in the sport was huge.
We’re already seeing how big this tournament could be – the draw was on The One Show – and if this is going to be the greatest Women’s World Cup ever, the interest is going to be huge. Excitement is already building and the girls will have to get used to seeing pictures of themselves on the tube and on bus stops, especially in and around London.
It will be a different level of expectation to anything they have faced previously. Everything off the field could be as stressful as the rugby and I’m sure the England set-up is working with players to help them prepare for the higher level of scrutiny.
We have seen sportspeople in the headlines for controversial social media posts, for example, and they will certainly want to avoid something like that.
On the flip side, there is also an opportunity for multiple England players to become “stars”. The important thing here is that players are comfortable having that profile and are happy to share their life away from rugby.
Ellie Kildunne has done a really good job to build “Brand Ellie” – she’s a T-shirt designer, photographer, her and Jess Breach have a new podcast… Hannah Botterman is great, too, a really good role model and someone who is comfortable in her own skin.
That is all off the pitch. On it, England are dominant.
'Utter quality and class"
Watch all 9️⃣ @RedRosesRugby tries from our #WXV fixture against the Black Ferns 👇
They have lost only one of their last 50 Tests, albeit that defeat was in the last World Cup final. I would like to see them challenged more but the girls can only play what is in front of them.
It was interesting to see how Canada closed them down and squeezed them in the last WXV match and other teams will be doing their homework around that, but England still won.
John Mitchell has got them playing really well and they have such depth to pick from. I was a massive critic of them mauling all the time and, although I’d like to see them be more accurate, they have a freer style now.
I expect England to win their pool easily. They open their campaign against the US in Sunderland. They have beaten them by pretty hefty scorelines in the last couple of games and are capable of putting 40 points on them.
Alev Kelter is brilliant, a real creative influence for the US, but there is only so much one player can do.
Alev Kelter you cannot do that 🔥#WXV | #WXV1 | #USAvENG | @USARugby pic.twitter.com/2z75R5XdXa
The last time England played Samoa was in 2014, when we won the World Cup. Going from playing in WXV3 against Madagascar to playing the US, Australia and England is a big jump and it will be tough.
In 2014 they were competitive but the biggest thing this time will be the depth of their squad. They are returning to the World Cup after 10 years and they don’t have a lot of time together or funding in comparison to other teams.
I don’t see England having a lot of problems against Australia in their last pool game. They won WXV2 but we’ll only get a better sense of where they are when they play New Zealand and Canada next year.
Their coach, Jo Yapp, was my first ever scrum-half at international level and she was coach when I played for the Barbarians, but will she have enough time to develop depth? They have amazing backs, but when you come up against the top four, it’s about the level of physicality the forwards bring.
At the moment I’d back Scotland, over Wales, to be England’s quarter-final opponents. They meet on the opening weekend and matches between those two teams have often been really close, but Wales are struggling – their recent win against Japan probably saved Ioan Cunningham his job.
It will likely be France in the semi-final and they have not really settled on how they want to play or who they want to play. Then Canada or New Zealand in the final.
Canada’s performances have been up there recently and they have talismanic captain Sophie de Goede to come back in, but are they good enough to stop England?
With respect to Canada, I think England would have to have a really bad day and Canada’s entire 23 would have to have the game of their lives to win.
New Zealand are still England’s banana skin. The World Cup is a different baby for New Zealand and England have still never beaten them in a World Cup. Allan Bunting is a smart coach and they will improve over the next 12 months.
Sometimes I wonder if other teams beat New Zealand or New Zealand beat themselves with the way they play from deep and are sometimes too loose with possession.
Obviously, if Ireland beat them in the group stages it will make things very interesting. They are now New Zealand’s bogey team and I’ve no doubt they will be jumping on their wins in 2014 and in WXV – it’s a narrative that is written in the stars.
ABSOLUTE SCENES IN VANCOUVER!!!
The Ireland women's rugby team have shocked New Zealand at the WXV tournament! It finished 29-27.
Look at those celebrations!!!pic.twitter.com/YCHv7ujfqp
I was really critical of Ireland going into WXV1, how they weren’t ready and there hadn’t been enough time for Scott Bemand to develop that group of players.
Hands up, I was wrong and they’ve done a really good job. That pool game will be fascinating and it is great to see that taking place on the final day of the group stage in Brighton. It should be a cracker.
I do fear for Brazil at this World Cup. They are ranked 42nd in the world and don’t have a lot of opportunity to play 15s rugby, so they could suffer some big defeats.
It is the same for Fiji, Samoa and Spain. It’s brilliant exposure for them and good for growing the game that the tournament has expanded to 16 teams, but it is a big task.
There could have been another cycle with 12 teams, but that was probably the conservative option and at some point you have to rip the band aid off. It will be tough for those teams and it’s about making sure the casual viewing audience understands the different levels of funding and experience those teams have so they are not shocked by large scorelines.
Besides, that has happened in men’s World Cups before as the game grows and this gives those lower-ranked teams the opportunity to play on a global stage.
There are only 10 months to go until the World Cup kicks off – and I can’t wait.
