Exclusive column from England’s former captain Catherine Spencer
It’s job done for England. We’re into the semifinals having earned maximum points from the pool matches, scoring 159 points and conceding just 44 while ensuring every squad member has had valuable game time.
Job done, yes, but it has to be said, not a quality one. The Red Roses have brushed aside their opponents, but they have shown weakness at times against, let’s admit it, mediocre opposition.
In patches it’s been very good but we have not seen a World Cup-winning performance yet from England. They have not been truly tested, so I’m hoping we will see the full potential of Simon Middleton’s squad in the semi-final against France on Tuesday.
The performance shown by the Red Roses on Thursday afternoon against a potentially dangerous USA side was, however, a step up from their previous two outings. The forwards finally found their feet and started to dominate like the days of old. Three tries came from the power of the pack and their driving maul, as a former No.8, was a beautiful thing!
In Vickii Cornborough and Sarah Bern, Middleton has two young props who can cause damage all over the park, while veteran Tamara Taylor had another strong performance in the second row alongside the impressive Abbie Scott.
England starved the USA of any possession in the first 25 minutes which proved crucial, securing their own set-piece while disrupting the American’s throw. England were also clinical at the breakdown, securing good, clean, quick ball and crucially only using one or two players to do so.
Fair play to USA, they dug in and enjoyed a strong patch at the end of the first half with their back row trio of Parsons, Zackery and Grey showing signs they could develop into a world class unit. Leading 33-7 at half-time, however, the second half didn’t all go England’s way.
They defended fairly well for most of the last quarter but
“I’m hoping we will see the full potential of Middleton’s squad against France”
could not halt the ever-present Tapper and Thomas, the USA flying wingers, who bagged a try each. Perhaps England had switched off knowing they had done enough and eight substitutions in just eight minutes will affect the flow even for the gelled Red Roses squad.
England next face France, a team who are consistent in their inconsistency but who have demonstrated more of the former in this tournament.
They also have dangerous runners in their back three; England will need to keep their heads.
France came out top of Pool C without the close encounters that we were all hoping for and expecting. Instead we witnessed two and half games of great flair from the French – a joy to watch when on song.
Quick tempo, offloading and effective lines of running combining with the power of the forwards; a spectacle for all and proving far too much for an Australian team who had teased us with promise in their first game against Ireland.
The French also brushed aside Japan on their way to the semi-final. It was anticipated Pool C would be tough but France cruised it.
The one 40 minutes when, perhaps, they switched off against Ireland was still strangely impressive with the hosts quickly learning that passion and desire will not get you through to a semi-final.
In the second half of their encounter on Thursday, Ireland threw everything they had at the French after Les Bleues had done enough before the break to secure the victory.
With most of the second half played in the French 22, green shirt after green shirt battered away at the blue wall but the French stood firm. Ireland have some significant work to do to make it back in to the top ranks of international rugby. Heart alone is no more enough.
New Zealand continued to completely dominate Pool A with another clear win over world-ranked No.3 Canada, who, perhaps, were feeling the effects from their hard-fought match against Wales. Their failure to pick up a bonus point fourth try proved their downfall with USA qualifying ahead of them as best runners-up.
New Zealand won’t slip up against the Americans, though I predict the USA will score a couple of tries if their largely unchanged team can keep their tired legs going a little longer.
England’s semi-final against the French will be a lot tougher. Both teams will gear up knowing they can win, but while the French defence is impressive, England have more strength, skill and power across the pitch and can mix their attack up better than the Irish.
While I am sure we’ll witness some good rugby still in this tournament, with New Zealand and England surely fighting it out for the trophy, are we where we should be as an international sport? We saw vast improvement in World Cups until 2014 but this upward trajectory path has taken a dip.
A record 2.4m tuned in to watch Les Bleues beat Ireland on French TV on Thursday, yet we still have pool games played at university venues with a maximum capacity of 3,000 and a ticket sale format restricting individual match capacity.
We have fewer Test matches played now than we did between 2010 and 2014.
America have played only ten international matches since the last World Cup – Australia have played only five. It leaves a feeling of frustration about what could be, given time and money.
The debates between 7s v 15s, men’s rugby v women’s rugby, funding v media coverage, will rage on unless we see some bravery from people at the top.
We need someone with some gall and confidence to stand up and say: “Enough is enough, we are going to do things differently now.”
“We have fewer Tests now than we did in 2010 and 2014. It leaves a feeling of frustration”