Women’s Rugby World Cup: The teams that could stop England

Canada are closest to runaway world number ones England in the rankings.

They have embellished those spreadsheet credentials with their deeds on the pitch too. They beat New Zealand for the first time in their history last year, prevailing 22-19 to clinch the Pacific Four Series.

And they backed up that result with a 27-27 draw against the Black Ferns in Christchurch four months ago.

Almost half of their squad have honed their game in England’s PWR and all of them are smart, all-court rugby players.

The back three of Julia Schell, Alysha Corrigan and Asia Hogan-Rochester work, outside a classy one-two punch centre combination of Alex Tessier and Florence Symonds.

Second row Sophie De Goede captains her country, just as both of her parents did. The 26-year-old Saracen, who has only recently recovered from a serious knee injury, was immense in the quarter-final win over Australia, kicking goals, pulling strings and popping up all over the pitch.

The dedicated training camp that a C$1m (£530,000) fundraising drive – titled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup – helped pay for has produced a more cohesive, connected group.

Head coach Kevin Rouet has accused his team of being “too Canadian” – lacking the killer instinct to put matches beyond teams.

Scotland have come closest to Canada so far in the tournament and England coach John Mitchell will have noted how Evie Gallagher and Fran McGhie both scored tries with cleverly angled runs, close to the breakdown.