RAMPANT RED ROSES PUT ON A SHOW FOR WIEGMAN
Simon middleton revealed he has looked to the lionesses for inspiration after Sarina Wiegman watched his england side set up a women’s World Cup quarter-final with Australia. england women’s football boss Wiegman has already sealed her place in the history books after guiding her team to euros glory in the summer. Red Roses coach middleton is now just three games away from emulating her and admitted ‘everything is on the line now’. Wiegman was in new Zealand after attending the draw for her side’s World Cup which will take place next year.
She would surely have been impressed by the scale of england’s win against South Africa at Auckland’s Waitakere Stadium.
‘As a coaching group we’ve talked about a tournament strategy and how brilliantly they (the lionesses) managed the squad,’ middleton said of Wiegman’s exploits. ‘Hopefully we’ve learned a few lessons. everything is on the line now — one defeat and you’re on the plane going home. it’s a great draw against Australia — we haven’t played them since 2017. ‘it will be a different challenge and the englandAustralia rivalry adds an extra dimension.’ middleton and Wiegman are yet to speak, but the presence of the experienced dutchwoman seemed to inspire the Red Roses, who ran in 13 tries with 12 coming from their forward pack. lock Rosie Galligan and hooker Connie Powell both grabbed hat-tricks in a one-sided contest.
‘it’s amazing she (Wiegman) was in the crowd,’ said marlie Packer, who captained england for the first time.
‘We want to get as many high-profile people as possible in to watch our games and i hope she enjoyed the game. ‘Knockout rugby is the business end of things. We haven’t got here through luck and we’re not going to take our foot off the gas.’ this was england’s 28th consecutive win and demonstrated once again the power of their driving lineout. South Africa had no answer. even with 13 World Cup debutants in their side, england were far too good.
Should they beat the Wallaroos, england’s likely semi-final opponents would be Canada with a possible final against either hosts new Zealand or pool-stage rivals France. Galligan’s World Cup treble was the latest stop on her remarkable journey which has included recoveries from meningitis and a career-threatening injury. Had she not been treated promptly for meningitis back in 2019, she would have been amputated from the waist down.
‘i’m a bit speechless. it was a phenomenal day,’ she said. ‘it’s been a crazy journey. everybody wants to play in the big games and you could tell there were players out there who wanted to put their hand up — myself included.’ Unlike the majority of her
team-mates, Galligan is not on a professional england contract and balances her rugby career with a job in marketing. She was one of the many
england fringe players given a chance to impress against South Africa with middleton’s first-choice stars rested for the knockout stages. emily
Scarratt and Vickii Cornborough were late withdrawals from england’s final Pool C clash but will be fit for the Australia game.