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England Women book their place in the final of the IRB Rugby World Cup

by Julia Hutton


	photo by Paul Seiser

September 12th, 2006
England Women 20 Canada 14
England will play New Zealand in the final of the IRB Rugby World Cup on Sunday September 17th in what will be a re-run of the 2002 tournament finale.

Four years ago the Black Ferns triumphed 19-9 in the Barcelona Olympic Stadium but England, who still have eleven members of the 2002 squad in their ranks, will be looking to turn the tables on the competition favourites at the Commonwealth Stadium and lift the illustrious World Cup trophy for the first time since 1994.

England’s route into the final today (Tuesday) was no easy ride though with host-nation and under-dogs Canada, who had previously lost to England four times in the last three World Cups, rising to the occasion to produce the match of the tournament at Ellerslie Rugby Park in Edmonton.


Spencer runs photo by Paul Seiser

From the first whistle, though, it had looked like it was going to be a very different story. The Six Nations Grand Slam champions started well, making a mess of the Canadian scrum as they piled on the pressure in the early stages.

Geoff Richards’ side were duly rewarded for their efforts with a seventh minute try. Lichfield fullback Charlotte Barras claimed the points, but the move started with some great forward pressure which saw Folkestone’s Catherine Spencer pick-up and drive to the line. The number eight was tackled just short of the try-line but skipper Jo Yapp recycled the ball to keep the momentum going. With the direction of attack shifting from the right to the left wing Karen Andrew and Michaela Staniford set-up Barras who blasted her way through Canada’s defence to score. Saracens fly-half Andrew missed the conversion but put England 8-0 up with a penalty minutes later.


	Rudge tackled photo by Paul Seiser

England continued to dominate possession in the first quarter and Worcester wing Kim Shaylor looked like she had done enough to put the Red Roses two tries clear, only for a magnificent try-saving tackle by Canadian full-back Heather Moyse, who bundled Shaylor into touch on the try-line, to prevent the score.

Spencer too also came close to scoring before the half-hour, but it wasn’t to be and Canada instead, buoyed on by their vociferous home crowd, knuckled down and showed tremendous team spirit to disrupt England at the breakdown and exploit their mistakes with some impressive running from their backs to stay within touching distance at half-time.

After the break Shaylor looked like she would put England firmly back on track with her first try of the tournament. Again tremendous pressure from England gave them territory in Canada’s 22 and their persistence paid off when Canada’s defensive line finally broke with Yapp, continuingly finding support, spotted centre Rachel Burford, whose tremendous flat pass, set-up Shaylor on the left wing.

Andrew missed the conversion and it was then that Canada started to reap the rewards of their efforts with wing Julie Foster claiming the home side’s first try. Moyse started the counter attack, collecting a loose England ball, and charged up the length of the field. Barras couldn’t catch her opposite number and although Shaylor made an impressive tackle on Moyse to bring her to the ground, the talented number 15 kept the ball in play, offloading to Foster in support who cruised over the line. Skipper Kelly McCallum added the conversion to put Canada just six points adrift.

England had their chances to go a converted try clear with two penalties but both Andrew and substitute Shelley Rae failed in their attempts. Canada meanwhile, clearly inspired by their score, continued to fight hard for possession and disrupted England’s scrum effectively, making their rivals wait until the 77th minute to claim their third try.

Barras, who made her debut against Canada in 2004, was again the scorer though it was the forwards who put the groundwork in place. This time Spencer picked up from the back of the scrum in Canada’s 22. Yapp recycled and Rae’s great service set-up Sue Day and then Barras. Rae this time added the conversion, but England were still not home and dry.

In the dying minutes of the game Moyse put Canada just six points adrift with her tremendous pace leaving England unable to bring her to the ground. McCallum converted leaving Canada trailing 20-14, and to the crowd’s delight Moyse was again on the charge minutes after the restart with another blistering break. Only a try-saving tackle by Shaylor five metres from the try-line thwarted her attempt to steal the victory in injury time.

England Women’s head coach Richards said: “There were a few nervous moments there but we got through it in the end. The first-half was very frustrating, considering we had so much possession but only eight points on the board. We created a lot of opportunities but we didn’t finish them off and Canada made us pay for it and I am sure that also gave them heart.

“We always knew they were going to be tough and the combination of Canada being the underdogs and having home support certainly was an advantage for them. To their credit they rose to the occasion and made this a fantastic game. It was certainly a very exciting match.

“We now have four days to go before the final and we are going to concentrate on rest and recovery. We’re where we want to be and now it’s all about what happens on finals day. We have worked really hard for this and now we have the opportunity to have another stab at winning the World Cup.”

In the other semi-final New Zealand beat France 40-10.

England
1 Vanessa Huxford (Wasps), 2 Selena Rudge (Wasps), 3 Katy Storie (Clifton), 4 Jennifer Sutton (Richmond), 5 Jenny Lyne (Richmond), 6 Shannon Baker (Richmond), 7 Helen Clayton (Saracens) (VC), 8 Catherine Spencer (Folkestone), 9 Jo Yapp (Worcester) (C), 10 Karen Andrew (Saracens), 11 Kim Shaylor (Worcester), 12 Rachel Burford (Henley),13 Michaela Staniford (Henley), 14 Nicky Crawford (Worcester), 15 Charlotte Barras (Lichfield). Replacements: 16 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 17 Vanessa Gray (Wasps), 18 Tamara Taylor (Thirsk), 19 Margaret Alphonsi (Saracens), 20 Danielle Waterman (Henley), 21 Shelley Rae (Wasps), 22 Sue Day (Wasps)

Tries: Barras (2), Shaylor
Conversions: Rae
Penalties: Andrew
Substitutions: Alphonsi for Clayton (56), Rae for Andrew (56), Gray for Huxford (blood, 60), Day for Staniford (62), Huxford for Storie (66), Garnett for Rudge (73), Taylor for Sutton (73).

Canada

1 Leslie Cripps, 2 Raquel Eldridge, 3 Heather McDonald, 4 Rania Burns,
5 Summer Yeo, 6 Maureen MacMahon, 7 Gillian Florence, 8 Katie Murray,
9 Julia Suguwara, 10 Kelly McCallum (C), 11 Julie Foster, 12 Kristy Heemskerk,
13 Sarah Ulmer, 14 Maria E. Gallo, 15 Heather Moyse. Replacements: 16 Lesley McKenzie, 17 Allison Lamoureux, 18 Dawn MacDonald, 19 Megan Gibbs, 20 Heather Jaques, 21 Erin Dance, 22 Mandy Marchak

Tries: Foster, Moyse
Conversions: McCallum (2)
Penalties:

Half-time score: England 8 Canada 0

Referee: Sarah Corrigan (Australia)
Touch Judge 1: Kristina Mellor (New Zealand)
Touch Judge 2: Dana Teagarden (USA)

England’s World Cup Schedule:

August 31st   England v USA at Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton,
KO 12am BST WON 18-0
September 4th England v South Africa at Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton    KO 9.30pm BST WON 74-8
September 8th England v France at St. Albert RFC, Edmonton
   KO Mid-night BST WON 27-8
September 12th Semi-finals:
New Zealand v France, Ellerslie Rugby Park , 930pm BST
England v Canada, Ellerslie Rugby Park, WON 20-14
September 17th Finals (All at the Commonwealth Stadium)
England v New Zealand, KO mid-night BST

Ends…