Women’s Rugby World Cup: Can anyone stop England?

England have rarely looked troubled under Mitchell, with Canada offering by far their most difficult test.

The WXV1 hosts, whose players are still part-time, backed up their pre-game claims that they can win the World Cup.

They were made to rue missed opportunities when leading in the second half but demonstrated why they are considered the side most likely to stop England lifting the World Cup at the Allianz Stadium on 27 September.

“It is a big year next year and we will come out on top when it matters,” Canada captain Alex Tessier said.

“The goal is still the World Cup but we are still growing, we are definitely there but there is a lot of stuff to learn.”

Canada have also beaten New Zealand in 2024, but the Black Ferns have a history of peaking at World Cups and should not be written off.

France seem to have stalled but Ireland, under former England women’s attack coach Scott Bemand, are making significant progress.

They shocked the world champions in their WXV1 opener to continue their rapid rise after winning WXV3 last year and finishing third in the Women’s Six Nations.

Australia, now coached by former England captain Jo Yapp, overcame Scotland to win the WXV2 title and are starting to show promise.

“The gap might not be closing mathematically, but it is closing in terms of the way people are playing and being coached,” Mitchell said.

“All the other teams have really good coaching groups, they are all getting better. For us our challenge is to get better.

“It is also about how special it is going to be to play a World Cup at home, something that we can impact on other people for the rest of our lives.”