England amateurs dig deep for glory
THE WOMEN’S World Cup rugby final between England and Canada at the Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris tomorrow is a 20,000 sellout, but the proceeds will not be enjoyed by all those taking part.
Although some of the Canadians have contracts to play sevens, all the England players are amateur, and most took three- months’ unpaid leave from their jobs to fulfil a dream.
England have lost the past three World Cup finals, all to New Zealand, who were eliminated from the playoffs after last weekend’s draw between Canada and England at the end of the group stage. The Red Rose’s one success came 20 years ago.
‘‘We have all made sacrifices to play in this tournament and for all of us it is about going one better than we did in 2010,’’ said England lock Jo McGilchrist, a survivor from the last final against New Zealand in 2010.
McGilchrist works
as
a
physio- therapist in London and there will be little time for celebrations should England defeat Canada, before she returns home and gets back to her job, having been without pay for the past 12 weeks.
‘‘Everyone is in the same boat in taking a career break to play in the World Cup,’’ McGilchrist said. ‘‘ Canada do have some players under contract for the sevens and doing well in that form of the game has clearly helped them in this World Cup, which can only be good for the sport. My focus for the last year has been to play in this tournament and, again, we are one match away from winning it.’’
England’s relief at not facing their nemesis New Zealand will not give way to complacency, and not just because they were a tad fortunate to draw with Canada a week ago and also lost to them in last year’s Nations Cup final.
‘‘Most of us were around four years ago and some played in the 2006 World Cup. None of us want to have that bitter feeling of disappointment again,’’ McGilchrist said.
‘‘We know we are going to have to play better against them than we did last week. Canada are a very physical, fit side who know how to win the ball and how to use it. They are similar to us and we know what to expect. We did not take enough chances against them and we cannot make that mistake again.’’
Canada lost the World Cup Sevens final to New Zealand in Moscow last year and want to make amends in the 15s version.
‘‘Our goal coming here was to make the final but it is a dream,’’ Canada captain Kelly Russell said.
‘‘ The reaction back home has been phenomenal and it has been uplifting for all the girls. We want to keep developing the women’s game in Canada and that means keeping going.’’