September 12th, 2006

England skipper and Worcester player Jo Yapp said: “They gave us a good game for 80 minutes. We knew with a home crowd as vociferous as this they would play the match of their lives.

“At half-time we realised that we needed to control our ball and tighten up our game. We were giving them too much turn-over ball and generally making too many mistakes. They deserve a lot of credit for that. Technically Canada scrummaged very well against a good England pack and they made it hard work for us, but we came good in the end.

“Canada have certainly improved since we last played them. We are slightly disappointed but we’ll learn from this and we’ll be ready for the final on Sunday.”

England and Saracens fly-half Karen Andrew said: “It was a tough game but we knew that it would be at the semi-final stages. We were also playing the host nation and they are a talented side.

“It was very tough, but the girls did really well and we learned a lot out there today. We certainly proved our defensive worth today. It would have been nice to get more points on the board by half-time because we had dominated but Canada just didn’t give up. We made some errors but we have got five days to address that before the final on Sunday.

“We knew the Canadian support would be very loud but our supporters have been fantastic. It is a great feeling to have got this result for them today.

“The Canadians were fantastic but we showed what we were made of when it mattered and now we are looking forward to playing New Zealand in the final. We showed a lot of courage and patience and we got the win in the end.”

England and Henley centre Michaela Staniford said: “We didn’t finish some of the moves we created out there and that was disappointing but Canada are a very good team. All the games have been very physical this tournament and Canada certainly didn’t disappoint.

“We are looking forward to playing New Zealand on Sunday. It’s a massive opportunity for us and we know how good and powerful they are but I know that we have as good as chance as them at winning this World Cup.”

England and Clifton prop Katy Storie said: “It was a very hard game. They were very physical up front and in their backs but we got the upper-hand over them in the end.

“We knew they were going into this game desperate to do it for their home crowd so it was never going to be easy on us. We knew they would try and beat us through their physicality and by attacking our pack and they certainly did try.

“At half-time we should have had more points on the board and we knew they would come out with all guns blazing in the second-half. It was really important for us to win the first 10 minutes of the second-half, which we did, but then we slipped off the pace again. They are a resilient bunch and they pounced on every mistake we made.”

England and Lichfield full-back Charlotte Barras said: “We were relieved at full-time. Everyone one of our games this tournament has been win or die and that was no different today. That was a close game but fortunately Kim Shaylor made a great tackle at the end. We are not necessarily disappointed with our performance because Canada were a really good team. I am proud that we kept our heads and got our place in the final of the Rugby World Cup. It was also great to score two tries, but this really was a team effort today.”

England and Wasps prop Vanessa Gray said: “It was a really tough experience watching the game on the bench to start with. We had a big job on our hands today and there was never any let-up from the Canadians. The team showed tremendous spirit though to see off the home side, who had tremendous support and in the end we got the result. We knew this was going to be a physically tough game, but nothing was going to prepare us for their challenge because Canada played the game of their lives today.”

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…