England Women in the world cup

[kend]

When you consider what is going on with the RFU off the pitch, their motivation is to be applauded.

Indeed. Also, they are playing on a 4 day turnaround; the final will be England's 5th game in 18 days (I hope there are some searching questions asked of the organisers following the tournament). Given the intensity of the game against France, they will do very well to recover sufficiently to beat a very strong NZ team.

[SPIKE@srufc]

Indeed. Also, they are playing on a 4 day turnaround; the final will be England's 5th game in 18 days (I hope there are some searching questions asked of the organisers following the tournament).

I very much doubt the organisers will look at this but could you imagine the uproar if the men were asked to play a similar schedule?
One of the major things to take away from this is how the players have interacted with fans at the venues and on social media too. It's evident they are inspiring young players - I just hope there are clubs and coaches in place to give them opportunities.

[kpj tiger]

Only been tuning in and out of the final occasionally and looks like england are out of it now but has anybody else noticed the Ferns crawling after tackles constantly?

[loretta]

Only been tuning in and out of the final occasionally and looks like england are out of it now but has anybody else noticed the Ferns crawling after tackles constantly?

Yes. Lots of infringing missed. Couldn't help wondering why a top flight ref couldn't have been given this gig. World Cup final needs the best, and not just the best woman ref, but the best ref. Nigel Owens would have been ideal.

[ourla]

Reffing seemed fine to me. It was a great game and no excuses, the better team won.

A great advert for rugby and obviously womens rugby in particular.

[Mark62]

I thought the Irish lady ref handled things very well. Great advert for women's rugby as has been said.
For obvious reasons they will never match the men for speed and physicality, but if you ignore that in its own right very enjoyable to watch

[Tiger_in_Birmingham]

Only been tuning in and out of the final occasionally and looks like england are out of it now but has anybody else noticed the Ferns crawling after tackles constantly?

Yes, and a lot of squeeze ball

Surprised at one of the tries being allowed (not the prop who knocked it forwards with her knee when standing up IMO) but the one where the player on the floor popped it up to the incoming player after two England players had formed the ruck and been cleared out.

NZ were just phenomenal second half - they looked like they could pick and go around the fringes from one end of the pitch to the other, and they could give it to their fly half to do the same!

[Mark62]

What's wrong with squeeze ball only prohibited at juniors and possibly colts

[Tiger_in_Birmingham]

What's wrong with squeeze ball only prohibited at juniors and possibly colts

It's fine if done quickly to promote quick ball when falling in certain positions, it's not good when used as a tactic to prevent the defending team from getting hands onto the ball as it's under your body. During the final it started quick and got slower and slower as the game went on, sometimes starting as a half presented squeeze ball before the NZ player would roll over onto the England side and present in a more traditional position with the player lying on their side.

Fair play to NZ, if the ref is happy then keep pushing the boundaries, would have only needed 1 to be called to speed it back up

[BFG]

I thought England had some luck with the yellow card to the New Zealand player in the first half which gave them a chance, it was an extremely harsh decision, that tackle was not lifted beyond the horizontal, it was right on the horizontal and was landed safely.
The card stopped the New Zealand momentum in that half and disrupted their dominance of possession.
The best team won and the backrow was the biggest difference IMO.
England need some change IMO, development has stuttered a little IMO, move over the old and allow the new batch through, it'll be very tough now as they are playing catch up IMO but it is what it is!
It might not quite be the men's game but Scarratt is simply a lovely rugby player in every sense!

[johnthegriff]

Agree with BFG and Tiger in Birmingham. Good performance by England beaten by a better team on the day, I too thought the yellow card for the tip tackle was harsh on N.Z but I also thought that the two tries referred to by Tiger in Birmingham should not have been allowed, otherwise I thought the Ref had a good game, I have seen far worse in the Premiership. Nigel Owen could not have taken this match anyway he was reffing New Zealand Australia.