Women's Rugby World Cup Finals, 2022

Again in the order I saw them, rather than the order they were played.

New Zealand v England

This was an odd game. We very much had two contrasting styles, England played a power game while NZ played a speed and width game. While we don’t know for sure - the card came about because of a desperate attempt to close down a break out wide - once England lost a player to an absolutely clear RC then the two sides really couldn’t effectively stop their opponents. It meant mistakes in attack were the main thing that slowed down the Black Ferns's scoring, and there were enough to matter, but they spent enough time deep in England territory that England got few chances to score too - they only got a chance if NZ made a mistake soon after scoring and the restart. Sometimes when you have matches of two different styles they blend like eggs and oil, and you get a fine mayonnaise. This was more like oil and water, the two obviously interacted but the mix never quite came together into more than that. There was tension, yes, neither side could draw clear and there was a three point margin at the end which helped maintain that. But that wasn’t enough to make it come alive for the neutral.

In the end NZ won and England lost because their lineout, their super weapon throughout the tournament, misfired and NZ won the ball on their own 5m line after time had expired. Being Welsh I’m happy to see England defeated and all long streaks have to come to an end. I think it’s good for the game that England are not so dominant, even though historically NZ have been that dominant force. But they were deposed, fought back and we know France are really close too. That’s a better place for the game going forward than a simple procession by the Red Roses.

France v Canada

This was our other “oil and water” match. I think whether you think it was mayonnaise or immiscible rather depends on how much you enjoy watching Les Bleues play because they were essentially totally dominant. I think this was a mixture of actual dominance and the Canadians struggling to pick their game up for this match - something that’s always hard to do in the 3rd/4th playoff - but that may have been exacerbated by the fact that a chunk of their players are amateurs (a chunk are also professionals and play in England and France) but those amateurs are not faced with having to go out and perform the week after a bad loss in the same way, don’t have the same coping strategies and I think that spread throughout the team’s efforts a bit. For me, the match rarely sprang to life simply because Canada were never really competitive.

However, I do want to say something a bit contentious. Of the four finalists (and at this point in time they’re clearly the best four teams in the world), I think France are probably the most complete rugby team. Not necessarily the best - in a sport measured by results, the Black Ferns carry that plaudit (although I think they have the support from a home crowd and some luck to help them there). But France in the pool stages contained England’s attack and were genuinely unlucky not to win - if one of a number of passes had been caught, they could have won. In this match they contained and suppressed a team that plays in the same style as England and ran them close last week, holding them scoreless. Last week they largely contained the Black Ferns and their very different style of attack and were unlucky to lose by one point. This tells me that France can defend against anyone, create chances against anyone, and with a tiny bit more luck could have beaten all of the other top three sides. England and New Zealand, by contrast, could not close down each other’s attacks, at least not reliably. Yes, New Zealand won courtesy of stopping an England lineout, something they managed twice in the whole game. England scored, in essence, when NZ made a mistake running out of their own half before they escaped. There wasn’t really any structured, effective, defence from either side to impose their will in stopping their opponents, only the approach of “do your best, we’ll score more than you” at which New Zealand triumphed. Only the French managed to impose their will on their opponents on both sides of the ball, only to come up agonisingly short twice. But it’s still a sign of a more complete team.

Looking Forward

It’s not quite clear who will be retiring after this RWC. It’s clear Sansus will be, she’d said it was going to be her last before injury ruled her out far too early. There are a string of England and New Zealand players reaching the ends of their careers too and probably French players other than Sansus. There will also be the impact of professionalism for the Welsh, Irish and Italian sides going forwards. WR is organising more women’s tournaments as well, so hopefully we’ll see more games for the likes of Japan, Fijiana etc and a group pool of teams and professionalism. I hope the W6N is a more even contest in the years to come and I hope the 2025 RWC is a far more open competition, with a winner other than England or New Zealand. That would be great for the game.