DOUBLE DATE
England meet France back-to-back this month as preparations for RWC 2021 step up
HILE SOME teams are still looking to book their spot at next year’s Women’s World Cup, others are starting their build-up in earnest. The pandemic has disrupted the qualification process and only nine of the 12 countries who will compete for the trophy in New Zealand next year will be known when the pool draw takes place in Auckland later this month.
Yet there are some significant fixtures on the international women’s rugby calendar over coming weeks, including two Tests between England and France.
The Red Roses beat France 19-13 in the Six Nations back in February and will be looking to make it a hat-trick of victories in 2020 when they meet on French soil on 14 November and then at Twickenham a week later.
England coach Simon Middleton recognises the importance of these fixtures when it comes to trying different player combinations and finessing tactics in the lead-up to RWC 2021.
“It’s an opportunity to see where we are as we go into World Cup year,” says Middleton. “It will give us a really good indication of how effective our preparation has been, what we need to do next and where we need to get to.
“We’ve changed our training processes a little bit to look at getting
Wmore out of us physically, to bring more intensity and intent to how we play. That’s not to say we haven’t had it previously, but it’s learning where we can get to.
“This is a chance to look at a number of players as we’ll rotate. We want to get eyes on individuals and combinations. Off the back of these games we want to have as big a picture of the squad as possible before the Six Nations.”
On the other side of the globe, world champions the Black Ferns had hoped to play eight Tests this year but have had to settle for a Possibles v Probables match, followed by two fixtures against the NZ Barbarians this month.
Coach Glenn Moore says: “We’ll make the most of the rugby we do have. The most important thing is to be ready for September next year. We’re determined to have the most prepared team there.”
Samoa and Tonga play an important Test on 14 November too. Their RWC 2021 qualifier provides the sandwich filling for a women’s rugby ‘triple header’ at Trusts Arena in Waitakere that also features the NZ Defence
Force playing the NZ Police and the Black Ferns’ first Baa-Baas fixture.
The two island sides are playing for a place in the Final Qualification Tournament that will feature the winner of a Colombia v Kenya play-off plus the runners-up from the European qualifiers and Asia Rugby Championship.