England v USA - teams and prediction
And the moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived – and if you don’t know, where have you been?
This Friday, the highly anticipated World Cup 2025 will kick off with a bang as hosts and favourites England battle the USA in the opening match at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
It’s set to be a massive occasion, with more than 40,000 supporters expected to attend.
The action continues on Saturday and Sunday, with seven fixtures.
For England, Friday is all about wanting to show they have what it takes to finally lift the title.
Aside from the title chase, the team enters the game on the back of a 27-game winning streak, extended by recent impressive wins over Spain and France.
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Across their last two matches, they have scored 21 tries and conceded just one, putting them in dominant form heading into the tournament’s curtain-raiser.
There is one change to the England squad that powered past France two weeks ago, with Emily Scarratt coming onto the bench for what will be her fifth World Cup appearance, having debuted the last time England hosted the tournament in 2010.
Among the replacements, Kelsey Clifford, Maddie Feaunati, and Emma Sing will make their tournament debuts.
USA Eagles Head Coach Sione Fukofuka has named 11 players who will make their first Rugby World Cup appearance, including Olympic bronze medalist Ilona Maher, who will play in the centres next to fellow sevens Olympian Alev Kelter.
USA legend Hope Rogers will continue to add to her record caps tally from loosehead, as captain Kate Zackary starts at blindside flanker.
The Red Roses have a strong record against the USA, having won their last 20 games, with their most recent encounter a 61–21 win for John Mitchell’s side.
Mitchell’s team certainly head into the fixture as favourites, as the USA have produced a mixed bag of results. The side beat Fiji but lost to Canada in their two warm-up matches and also finished fourth in the Pacific Four Series.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the match, Red Roses scrumhalf Natasha Hunt said there has been a major buzz in the country.
“With it being a home World Cup, we are so excited about the prospect of what is to come over the next few weeks,” said Hunt.
“It feels like we have been speaking about this tournament for so long, and it’s finally here.
“There is almost this bubble in us that is bubbling at the moment, and we are so excited to get going – it means everything.
“This country loves sport and it loves winning teams, and when you combine that with what we will hopefully be doing this summer, we can take this sport into another stratosphere.”
On their current struggles and facing England, USA’s modern rugby icon Ilona Maher stated: “Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies. I think we can be a world-class team.
“We talk a lot about game-changers, and I think we are a team that is changing the game on and off the field.
“This is a time where women’s rugby could grow massively, and I do believe this team is at the forefront – with how we present ourselves and how people perceive us.
“We want more people to have eyes on the game, and it will be great to see more stadiums sold out.”
She added: “We’re doing our best as a team to build that excitement. You go back to America, and not many people know there’s a Women’s World Cup going on, so we try to get as many people as we can to spread that knowledge.
“We want the fans in America to see us play here, because we’ve got a World Cup there in eight years – and we need to start building for that.”
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Predictions:
Rugby365: England by 15 points
Teams:
England: 15 Ellie Kildunne, 14 Abby Dow, 13 Megan Jones, 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Jess Breach, 10 Zoe Harrison, 9 Natasha Hunt, 8 Alex Matthews, 7 Sadia Kabeya, 6 Zoe Aldcroft, 5 Abbie Ward, 4 Morwenna Talling, 3 Maud Muir, 2 Amy Cokayne, 1 Hannah Botterman.
Replacements: 16 Lark Atkin-Davies, 17 Kelsey Clifford, 18 Sarah Bern, 19 Rosie Galligan, 20 Maddie Feaunati, 21 Lucy Packer, 22 Emily Scarratt, 23 Emma Sing.
USA: 15 Lotte Sharp, 14 Emily Henrich, 13 Ilona Maher, 12 Alev Kelter, 11 Bulou Mataitoga, 10 McKenzie Hawkins, 9 Olivia Ortiz, 8 Rachel Johnson, 7 Georgie Perris-Redding, 6 Kate Zackary (captain), 5 Erica Jarrell, 4 Tahlia Brody, 3 Keia Mae Sagapolu, 2 Kathryn Treder, 1 Hope Rogers.
Replacements: 16 Paige Stathopoulos, 17 Alivia Leatherman, 18 Charli Jacoby, 19 Rachel Ehrecke (Denver Onyx), 20 Freda Tafuna (Lindenwood University), 21 Cassidy Bargell (Boston Banshees), 22 Kristin Bitter (Denver Onyx), 23 Sariah Ibarra.
Date: Friday, August 22
Venue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Kick-off: 20:30 (19:30 GMT)
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Natarsha Ganley (NZR), Maria Heitor (FPR)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
*Additional source: World Rugby
