‘Buckled under pressure’: English media react to loss
Favourites going into the tournament, favourites going into the final, and a world record 30-test win streak in their back pockets – this was England’s Rugby World Cup to lose.
And a fired-up Black Ferns indeed made sure of that, clinching their sixth crown with a stunning 34-31 victory in front of a world record crowd of 42,579 at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday night.
For England, it will now be a painful three-year wait till the next World Cup, on their home soil.
Here’s how the UK media reacted to the thrilling finale which ended in heartache for the women in white.
Fiona Thomas – The Telegraph
A glassy eyed Sarah Hunter looked utterly forlorn as she traipsed into her post-match press conference after her side had fallen agonisingly short in their aim to banish their World Cup hoodoo against their old nemesis.
This was England’s chance to seize their destiny at the spiritual home of New Zealand rugby, but on a night that will go down as a watershed moment for women’s rugby, they bottled it.
Trailing by three points in the dying seconds, the prospect of England’s steely forward pack crashing over from a five-metre lineout maul was so certain that you would have remortgaged your entire house on it. Their machine of rolling doom has been the bread and butter of their entire campaign but, exhausted after a pulsating topsy-turvy contest – in which they were forced to play for an hour without Lydia Thompson after her 18th minute red card for a reckless tackle on Portia Woodman – they buckled under the pressure.
The post-mortem will now begin. While this feel-good tournament has broken all sorts of records – from crowd numbers to levels of fan engagement – and put women’s rugby firmly on the map, England have three years of soulsearching to do before having another crack at a home World Cup in 2025.
Credit must go to New Zealand. In years to come, a Netflix movie will be made charting their miraculous rollercoaster of a journey that has ended in World Cup glory once again. Under the tutelage of Wayne Smith, who was parachuted in just seven months ago after their winless northern tour, they have been brought back from the dead in Lazarus-like fashion.
Robert Kitson – The Guardian
This was the biggest game of women’s rugby ever played and, somehow, it exceeded even that lofty billing. New Zealand are the Rugby World Cup champions but only after a quite stunning contest that demonstrated why the tournament has captured the imaginations of so many. England will feel bereft but they played a full part in perhaps the best World Cup final in history.
It was also the Red Roses’ worst nightmare. This was a second chastening defeat to the Black Ferns in consecutive World Cup finals and their first defeat to anyone in 31 tests. They were 14-0 up and cruising in the first quarter, only to be reduced to 14 players after a red card was shown to the winger Lydia Thompson for a high challenge on the outstanding Portia Woodman. In that misjudged split second, everything changed.
Even deep into the final moments, however, one final shot at redemption remained. England, having been awarded a penalty, opted for one last lineout five metres out. For weeks their driving maul has been all but unstoppable and the stage was set. When it mattered most, though, the ball ended up in grateful Kiwi hands and the defending champions were safe.
Given England have had the benefit of fulltime contracts for longer than any of their rivals, it must also rank as one of the great coaching heists. When Wayne Smith took over earlier this year, the Black Ferns were in disarray after a coruscating review into the treatment of the players by the previous regime. Smith simply told his players to go out and play with freedom and joy. The rest is history.