WRWC: England lift the trophy

 

The Red Roses, also champions in 1994, were beaten by New Zealand in the finals of the last three tournaments (2002, 2006, 2010).

 

The Black Ferns missed out on this year's showdown after a shock defeat by Ireland in the pool stages.

 

In front of a near-capacity 20,000 crowd at Stade Jean Bouin, home to Top 14 club Stade Francais in western Paris, the two sides produced a game that, while perhaps not at its flowing best, featured no little skill, unabashed hard-nosed aggression and tactical nous.

 

England, however, will be left pondering how they didn't put the game out of Canada's grasp after building up an 11-0 lead and completely dominating possession and territory in the first half.

 

The Canadians, appearing in the final for the first time, proved to be doughty opponents whose confidence grew as their pack pressed for set-piece dominance.

 

But out of nothing, outstanding centre Emily Scarratt jinked her way out of a weak couple of tackles and skipped away for a try she converted to put England out of danger with seven minutes of the game remaining.

 

It was Scarratt who had got the scoreboard ticking with a 11th minute penalty after a tight opening period.

 

Katherine Merchant then had two clear chances, the first thwarted by a fantastic tackle by Canada flanker Karen Paquin, the second time the wing knocking on with the line beckoning.

 

Livewire scrumhalf Natasha Hunt was then denied a try by the TMO, Paquin again on hand with the crucial tackle, but English pressure mounted and Scarratt added a second penalty soon after.

 

With Canada looking distinctly leaden-footed in defence, fullback Danielle Waterman crossed for the first try of the match after 33 minutes following a show-and-go by lock Tamara Taylor and good hands in midfield by Margaret Alphonsi.

 

Against the flow of play, a rare Canadian sortie into the English 22m area saw Marlie Packer stray offside, and Harvey kicked the penalty on the stroke of half-time.

 

The wing got a second penalty early in the second period as the momentum swung Canada's way, with some unforced handling errors working their way into England's game.

 

Harvey then nailed her third penalty as Packer was blown up for hauling down a powerful rolling maul to bring her team right back into contention.

 

Scarratt responded almost immediately with her third penalty to restore England's five-point lead.

 

The centre then put the match beyond doubt when she jinked over and kicked the extras to ensure England ditched their tag of perpetual bridesmaids in World Cup finals.

Teams:

 

 

Only four points separated the sides in the Six Nations earlier this year and this battle for third place was every bit as tight with France only making certain of victory with Elodie Guiglion's try with time up on the clock. 

 

Niamh Briggs, a nominee for IRB Women's Player of the Year, gave Ireland the perfect start by converting her early try, but Les Bleues hit back with a try by second row Assa Koita to tie things up.

 

France suffered a blow when Sandrine Agricole, playing in her last match for her country, was stretchered off just before the half hour mark, but minutes later Jessy Tremouliere touched down.

 

Ireland though went ahead in the dying seconds of the first half, Grave Davitt's little chip ahead causing mayhem in the French defence, allowing her to gather and dot down, sending the girls in green in with a 15-12 lead.

 

Les Bleues hit the front again through wing Guiglion out wide, but once more Ireland came back, a mis-hit penalty from Briggs making it 18-17 at the hour mark and it looked as though coach Philip Doyle would get a victory in his final match in charge. It was to be France's day though with another Tremouliere penalty and a second try for Guiglion in the dying seconds.

 

"We knew coming into it we were good enough to be top four, so to get there and obviously beat New Zealand on the way was amazing but this was not how we wanted to finish, losing two games," said Ireland captain Fiona Coghlan after securing their best ever WRWC finish.

 

 

Deposed world champions New Zealand salvaged fifth place after putting USA to the sword with a clinical display of finishing.

 

Honey Hireme scored four tries and WRWC 2014 joint top try scorers, Shakira Baker and Selica Winiata, took their overall tally to six with a try apiece as Brian Evans’ side defeated the Eagles for the second time in the tournament.

 

Playing in their 100th Test match, USA started brightly and appeared to have scored the first try of the match after four minutes through flanker Lynelle Kugler only for referee Helen O’Reilly to chalk it off for a forward pass in the build-up.

 

Following a scrappy opening to the match, the Black Ferns went in front when the outstanding Amiria Rule cut a good angle and showed great feet to get behind the USA defence and put in back row Aroha Savage for the first try.

 

A blindside move led to second row Rawinia Everitt touching down before the Black Ferns turned on the afterburners with three tries in the space of five minutes, scored by the back three trio of Baker, Winiata and Hireme. 

 

USA were twice held up over the line as the half drew to a close with New Zealand ahead 31-0.

 

USA finally got on the board, either side of Hireme’s second and third tries, when fly half Kimber Rozier intercepted a pass from Winiata and ran half the length of the field to score her first try of the tournament.

 

Replacement Aleisha Nelson added to New Zealand’s lead and Kelly Brazier’s fifth conversion of the match brought up the Black Ferns’ half century for the second time in four days following their earlier rout of Wales.

 

Hireme then rounded off a fine afternoon’s work with her fourth try three minutes from time.