England unchanged for Women's World Cup final

England have named an unchanged team for the Women's Rugby World Cup final against Canada on Saturday at Twickenham.

John Mitchell has opted to stick with the same starting XV and replacements who overcame a slow start to defeat France 35-17 in the last four.

Zoe Aldcroft captains the Red Roses in their seventh straight World Cup final.

England have not won the tournament since 2014, losing the past two finals to New Zealand.

Star full-back Ellie Kildunne, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Amy Cokayne, Aldcroft, Abbie Ward and Alex Matthews all retain their spots from the starting XV defeated by the Black Ferns three years ago.

The Red Roses, who are on a record 32-Test winning run, have not lost since that defeat at Eden Park.

They went into that match having won their previous 30 games, and are up against an in-form Canada side on Saturday.

Kevin Rouet's side, ranked number two in the world, have looked a class above all their opponents this tournament and delivered a remarkable semi-final performance to comfortably defeat New Zealand and reach their first World Cup final since they lost to England in 2014.

Canada are semi-professional, and have had to crowdfund nearly a third of the budget for their World Cup campaign - they are currently at 95% of their million-dollar fundraising goal entitled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup.

England have been professional since 2019 and are favourites to lift a home World Cup in front of an 82-000 capacity, sold-out Twickenham.

Saturday's crowd will surpass the 58,498 who watched England beat France at the same stadium in the 2023 Six Nations - the previous record for a XV-a-side match - and the 66,000 who watched the women's rugby sevens at Stade de France during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

"Our staff and players have worked hard to reach this stage of the tournament," Mitchell said.

"Playing a World Cup final at Allianz Stadium [Twickenham] in front of a record 82,000 is a significant milestone for the sport.

"We are well prepared for the challenge against Canada. It is number one versus number two in the world, and we know the contest will demand a full 80 minutes. Our focus remains on staying in our process and executing effectively."

Since taking over the role as head coach in 2023, Mitchell has built depth by rotating his squad regularly to build two strong teams.

Holly Aitchison impressed off the bench at inside centre in the semi-final win, while former England World Cup-winner Kat Merchant called for Lucy Packer to start at scrum-half over Natasha Hunt.

But Mitchell as expected has gone for consistency in selection instead of making a big call to unsettle his preferred matchday 23.

His side defeated Canada by nine points when they met in the WXV1 last year in Vancouver.

Line-up

England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Harrison, Hunt; Botterman, Cokayne, Muir, Talling, Ward, Aldcroft (capt), Kabeya, Matthews.

Replacements: Atkin-Davies, Clifford, Bern, Galligan, Feaunati, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland.

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