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England’s heartache at the Women’s Rugby World Cup three years ago has made them ready for Saturday’s final against Canada, says the hooker Lark Atkin-Davies.
The Bristol Bears star came off the bench in the 34-31 final loss against New Zealand at Eden Park in 2022, but says England are a “very different” team this time around. “You can reflect and learn from it but it’s made us ready for now,” Atkin-Davies said. “From a personal perspective, massive learnings from it. I don’t think you can dwell on it because you have to be in the moment, you have to play the game in front of you, you can’t think about what happened three years ago. You have to be focused on what is ahead.”
The back-row Sadia Kabeya added that she sees this final as a “completely new page” after being relatively new to the Red Roses squad in 2022, having won her first England cap in late 2021. “For me it was a weird one because I hadn’t played much in that World Cup,” Kabeya, who also came off the bench in the last final, said. “Injury brought me into the semi-final and the final and I was there to put the squad in the best place. The fact I was playing in the final was amazing but it was never in my plans. I just wanted to put my best foot forward.
“When we did end up losing in that final, it didn’t hit me as much because of being new and not knowing as much about the history; I didn’t have that weight. Looking back, there are a lot of girls who have a lot of feelings about that final. I think because I was so young and new into it, it was a loss but not as monumental as it was for the other girls.
“This time around there is a lot more in it for me, especially being more cemented in the squad and really connected with the girls. There are a lot of learnings but, for me, it’s a completely new page.”
This week is big because it is a final but it is also being hosted at a sold-out Twickenham and it is expected to be a new attendance record for a women’s rugby union game. Being the hosts this time around, the England defence coach Sarah Hunter, who was the captain in 2022, hopes the Red Roses can use the support to their advantage.
“The girls have experienced large crowds, we have played at the Allianz [Twickenham] in front of almost 60,000 so it’s not going to be the first time where they have gone into a stadium where there has been noise.
“It’s about leaning into it. Knowing that the majority of fans there are there to support them, to galvanise them and get behind them. I know you feed off of that energy, especially knowing what this game is going to be. It’s a cliche but they almost become the 16th person in those moments where you need them. It’s something that is really advantageous for us in a home World Cup.”
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Hunter also praised how the squad have gone about their business as any other week but noted this World Cup cycle has been different to those that have come before.
She said: “I think it’s just different. Different coaches, different staff, a different group of players. Naturally it always evolves. It’s not better or worse, it’s just different. You have someone new come in and they have their own way of doing things and I think that’s brilliant, that’s evolution. It’s great to see how the girls have grown in that framework and where they are now.
“Each cycle has its own identity and has their own connections within that group at that time, it’s not always saying ‘in 2022 we did it like this’, they are a group that are living in the moment. They are growing together on this journey.”
