England win Women's Rugby World Cup in front of record home crowd with dominant win over Canada

In front of a sold-out Allianz Stadium, the Red Roses produced a dominant forward display to score five tries and win by a comfortable margin.

Ellie Kildunne’s superb opening try was followed by scores from forwards Amy Cokayne and Alex Matthews to give England a 21–8 lead at half-time.

Read more: Graham Potter sacked as West Ham manager

Read more: Emma Raducanu claims first victory in China to ease into third round

Despite going down to 14 players in the second half, following a yellow card for Hannah Botterman, an Abbie Ward try was followed by Matthews’ second of the game to give England some breathing space on the scoreboard.

John Mitchell's side were pre-game favourites but faced huge pressure given England's World Cup final record of six losses in eight.

But they laid that ghost to rest and extended their record winning run to 33 games with a display built on defensive excellence and powerful running.

Asia Hogan-Rochester had put Canada one score up, but three unanswered tries left them with a mountain to climb before Sophie de Goede converted a penalty to keep them within touching distance.

Hogan-Rochester bagged her second try of the game following Botterman's yellow, but her side were unable to cross over again because of brilliant Red Roses defending and scrummaging.

Canada, ranked number two in the world, would feel they played their best rugby of the tournament at times, but were simply outclassed by Mitchell's team.

Their victory caps a wonderful year for women's sport in England, after football's Lionesses retained their European title at Euro 2025 in July.

Captain Zoe Aldcroft insisted her England team had taken their place among the greats after winning the World Cup.

When asked if the Red Rose are the greatest team in women’s rugby, captain Aldcroft said: “It definitely feels like that.

"We have had 33 wins in a row and we have finally put the cherry on top of the cake by winning the World Cup.

"It feels great. Honestly, it’s unbelievable. It is literally what dreams are made of.

"We have so much belief in this group, we have built something so special over the last three years and this final was about sticking to our processes and believing in ourselves.

"Everyone had to do their own job and that is what everyone did. I’m just so proud of every single one of these girls.

"It was such an amazing occasion as well, playing in front of almost 82,000 people. That was next level and it was a chance to redefine women’s rugby.

"We have been on a journey of ‘for the girls’ and it wasn’t just about the girls in that circle, but also the girls we inspire and the girls who have come before us.”