England and Canada have named unchanged teams for the Women’s Rugby World Cup final on Saturday at Twickenham.
Red Roses head coach John Mitchell has opted to stick with the same starting XV and replacements who overcame a slow start to defeat France 35-17 in the semi-finals.
Zoe Aldcroft captains England in their seventh straight World Cup final.
England have not won the tournament since 2014, losing the past two finals to New Zealand.
Star full-back Ellie Kildunne, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Amy Cokayne, Aldcroft, Abbie Ward and Alex Matthews remain from the starting XV defeated by the Black Ferns three years ago.
Scrum-half Natasha Hunt and Matthews also played in the 2014 final. Centre Meg Jones and wing Jess Breach, who have scored six tries in the World Cup, will be the only England players to have started all six games in the 2025 tournament.
The Red Roses, who are on a record 32-Test winning run, have not lost since their defeat at Eden Park in the 2022 final.
They entered that match having won their previous 30 games and are now up against an in-form Canadian side on Saturday.
England has a record-setting side that Mitchell trusts. When on form, they can be clinical in attack and resilient in defence.
“We are never going to be perfect, but to win this tournament you don’t have to be perfect,” head coach Mitchell said, urging his players to “trust what we have built”.
Kevin Rouet’s Canada, ranked number two in the world, has looked a class above all their opponents in this tournament and delivered a remarkable semi-final performance to sweep past New Zealand and reach their first World Cup final since losing to England in 2014.
Canada is a semi-professional team and has had to crowdfund nearly a third of the budget for their World Cup campaign. They are currently 95% of the way towards their million-dollar fundraising goal, entitled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup.
His side, who lost the semi-final 26-19 to England at the last World Cup, is captained by centre Alex Tessier and contains star goal-kicking lock Sophie de Goede.
Eight of the starting XV play in the Premiership Women’s Rugby league for English sides.
“I think we were very close in the last World Cup,” said Rouet, who was appointed just over six months before that tournament.
“We lost in the semi-finals against England, and I would say all of the metrics were in our favour, but not the score, so it’s hard sometimes.
“But we were not ready for those high-pressure games to deliver, and I think that’s a big difference.
“We changed the way we play, for sure, and I think I saw a year and a half ago that we were going in the right direction, and we do a lot of good stuff.”
Canada’s team contains three survivors from the 2014 World Cup final defeat – 38-year-old flanker Karen Paquin starts, while fellow forwards Olivia DeMerchant and Tyson Beukeboom are named on the bench.
England have been professional since 2019 and are favourites to win a home World Cup in front of an 82,000-capacity, sold-out Twickenham.
Saturday’s crowd will surpass the 58,498 who watched England beat France at the same stadium in the 2023 Six Nations – the previous record for a XV-a-side match – and the 66,000 who watched the women’s rugby sevens at Stade de France during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“Playing a World Cup final at Allianz Stadium [Twickenham] in front of a record 82,000 is a significant milestone for the sport,” Mitchell said.
“We are well prepared for the challenge. It is number one versus number two in the world, and we know the contest will demand a full 80 minutes.
Canada has been outstanding and has
played some really great rugby. They have grown as well and are fitter. They deserve to be in the final.”
His side defeated Canada by nine points when they met in the WXV1 last year in Vancouver.
