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Who will reach the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 semi-finals when the curtain falls on the pool stages after match day 3 and the title dream ends for two of the six teams still in contention?
The equation is simple for defending champions England, Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand and USA on Thursday – win and a place in the semi-finals of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 is yours.
Lose and you could face a nervous wait to see if you will join the pool winners in the last four as the best runner-up across the three pools.
New Zealand, England and France currently sit top of the pools, the defending champions only on points difference with USA also having accumulated the maximum 10 points.
That means the Women’s Eagles occupy the best runner-up spot going into the climax of the Ireland 2017 pool stages, although Canada are only a point adrift of their North American rivals with hosts Ireland on eight points.
Canada, therefore, must get something out of their match with New Zealand or their dreams of going one better than their runners-up finish at WRWC 2014 will be over, while hosts Ireland hopes rest on beating a France side that have impressed so far because their points difference is the worst of the other contenders.
The action gets underway at Billings Park with the mouth-watering Pool A decider between Canada and New Zealand at 12:00 local time (GMT+1). Defending champions England then meet USA in the Pool B decider before Australia tackle Japan in Pool C. Over at UCD Bowl, the remaining Pool B match between Italy and Spain kicks off proceedings, followed by Wales v Hong Kong in Pool A and finally the Pool C decider between France and hosts Ireland.
Pool A: New Zealand v Canada
Captain Fiao’o Faamausili will become the first Black Fern to play 50 matches in an encounter everyone has been looking forward to since the pool draw was made in Belfast last November.
New Zealand and Canada were ranked first and second in the World Rugby Women’s Rankings that day and, while they have since slipped to second and third respectively, the rugby on show is still likely to be of the highest order.
Faamausili is not the only Black Ferns star to reach a personal milestone as they bid to secure New Zealand’s seventh semi-final appearance as second-row Eloise Blackwell and scrum-half Kendra Cocksedge (pictured) win their 30th and 40th caps respectively.
Cocksedge scored two tries in New Zealand’s 28-16 win over Canada in the International Women’s Rugby Series in June with Faamausili and full-back Selica Winiata also crossing for tries with Jacey Grunswick and Elissa Alarie scoring Canada’s tries that day.
The two starting line-ups named for this Pool B decider are very similar to that day in Wellington with 12 Black Ferns and 11 Canadians set to come face to face again when the whistle blows at Billings Park.
New Zealand have reverted to almost the same team that started against Wales with try-scorers Winiata, Renee Wickliffe and Eloise Blackwell returning to the run-on XV. The backline features threats throughout, not least winger Portia Woodman who scored eight tries in the 121-0 defeat of Hong Kong to top the scoring charts with nine.
“Whoever wins this game, wins the pool. We need to win it and ultimately, we’d like to win it with a bonus point,” admitted New Zealand coach Glenn Moore. “The Hong Kong match was critical for us to score a good tally of points and have none scored against us. It will stand us in good stead if points differentials need to be calculated.
“Everyone is very buoyant and excited. This will be a very memorable day for Fiao’o, reaching a 50th cap while at a World Cup is extremely special. As captain she puts the team before everything. It will be a very proud day for the entire Black Ferns family and for rugby.”
Canada captain Kelly Russell reached her own half century against Wales last time out and the number eight is part of an unchanged forward pack to take on the four-time world champions. The only personnel change sees Amanda Thornborough handed her first start of the tournament at inside centre in place of Andrea Burk, while Alarie and Julianne Zussman swap positions to start at full-back and wing respectively.
“I’m happy with the girls. Obviously, we wanted to get a few more things executed against Wales that didn’t go our way, but their energy is good and we know exactly what the game plan is going into New Zealand,” said Canada assistant coach Colette McAuley.
“The girls are going to bring it. I’m proud of these girls. They just such a tremendous group of athletes. They’ve worked very hard on the game plan and on our defence. We’re going to go out and play some good rugby and have some fun. New Zealand is going to be a tough opponent and it’s going to be a great game.”
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Pool A: Wales v Hong Kong
Lleucu George will make her first start for Wales against Hong Kong, the 17-year-old flanker one of nine changes coach Rowland Phillips has made to the side beaten 15-0 by Canada in round two.
Full-back Jodie Evans, inside-centre Robyn Wilkins, second-row Siwan Lillicrap and number eight Shona Powell-Hughes all make their first starts of the tournament, while winger Jasmine Joyce and scrum-half Keira Bevan return in the backline and props Cerys Hale and Meg York join captain Carys Phillips in the front-row.
“We’ve surpassed many people’s expectations in terms of our performances against two of the world’s best teams, but we’re always looking to improve standards,” said coach Phillips. “We’re not content with just putting up a fight, we’re working towards winning big games.
“Our commitment and improvement was there for everyone to see against Canada. We pushed a very good team all the way, and we’ve got to take inspiration from that. The main thing now is to keep up that momentum in this competition, starting with Hong Kong. They will be out to prove a point against us, and we won’t be taking them lightly.”
Hong Kong coach Jo Hull has also rung the changes to her starting line-up for this final match of Pool A with only eight players remaining, among them the tournament’s oldest player in number eight Christine Gordon, captain Chow Mei Nam and the centre pairing of teenager Kelsie Bouttle and Natasha Olson-Thorne.
Among the players returning are half-backs Mak Ho Yee and Rose Hopewell-Fong and the experienced Adrienne Garvey, although at full-back rather than the centre berth she occupied on day one against Canada.
“It would be nice to get some points on the board, but to do that we have got to get our handling right, we’ve got to get our ball skills right and we have got to get our breakdown skills right,” Hull said.
“We want to see some attack against Wales. Obviously against New Zealand we were strangled in pretty much every area, so against Wales we are just trying to make sure when we have got the ball, we are executing.
“This Welsh team have significantly improved over the last six months since the Six Nations. They’re very rugby smart and we know we are in for another very, very tough day at the office.”
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Pool B: England v USA
England captain Sarah Hunter and WRWC 2014 winning captain Katy Mclean return for this Pool B decider after coming off the bench against Italy in round two.
Kay Wilson, who scored four tries on day one against Spain, takes her place back on the left wing with full-back Danielle Waterman the only Red Roses player to start all three matches.
England lead the head-to-head 15-1 with USA’s only victory being 19-6 in the inaugural World Cup final in 1991 at Cardiff Arms Park, a loss the Red Roses avenged in the 1994 final with a 38-23 win in Edinburgh.
“This is a winner takes all game in terms of topping the pool and will require a full 23-woman squad effort to get the job done. Regardless of whether players have been selected to start or will come on as finishers, everyone has equal weight in the team, fully understands what their role is and what they need to deliver come match day,” said coach Simon Middleton.
“We know playing against USA will be tough, they play a very physical game and have some dangerous players on the ball, but we have prepared well and the squad are in a good place, not only physically but mentally. We have confidence in the entire squad and it’s now about going out and making sure we put in a full 80-minute performance.”
USA coach Pete Steinberg has made only two changes to the side that brushed Spain aside 43-0 in the second round, hooker Katy Augustyn and second-row Alycia Washington returning starting that match on the bench.
“People didn’t look at us as a team that could come in and compete, but I think if you look at our history over the last couple of years we have been able to compete in moments and now against England we have to make that moment 80 minutes,” said Steinberg.
“We have a lot of respect for England. They play a very similar game to us and obviously they have got a huge amount of experience, most of their squad probably has more caps than our squad in total but we have to match them with the physicality in the forwards and then we have to have accuracy.”
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Pool B: Spain v Italy
Spain will have a point to prove in their final Pool B match with Italy, the Azzurre having replaced them in the Six Nations in 2007 when the women’s tournament was aligned with the men’s event.
Las Leonas have won nine of their 12 meetings with Italy dating back to their first meeting on the Women’s Rugby World Cup stage in 1991, although three years have passed since their last meeting ended in a 38-7 win for Spain.
Coach Jose Antonio Barrio has made only two changes to the side beaten 43-0 by USA in round two to create a new-look back three. Barbara Pla returns at full-back after sitting out that loss with Iera Echeberria moving to the left-wing, while Barbara Garcia will make her test debut on the other touchline.
“We have a game against Italy and if we win we could reach one of our goals which is to finish between fifth and eighth, although other scores must go our way. Before that, we must beat Italy with bonus point.”
For the third match running, Italy have players reaching a milestone appearance with tight-head prop Lucia Gai the second to hit 50 caps during the tournament after Flavia Severin. Their fellow forward Silvia Gaudino, a veteran of their WRWC 2002 campaign, will play her 70th test as the Azzurre look for only their fifth win in the tournament’s history.
Gaudino returns at number eight with Isabella Locatelli and Elisa Giordano moving across the back row as a result. Coach Andrea di Giandomenico has made the rest of his changes in the backline with Beatrice Rigoni resuming her partnership with captain Sara Barattin at half-back with veteran fly-half Veronica Schiavon dropping to the bench.
Maria Magatti has been ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury so Michela Sillari fills the vacated left-wing berth with Sofia Stefan coming onto the opposite wing after starting the 53-16 loss to England on the bench. The only other change to the backline sees Paola Zangirolami, playing her last tournament with the Azzurre, given the nod at inside-centre.
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Pool C: Australia v Japan
Sharni Williams takes over the captaincy from her fellow Olympic gold medallist Shannon Parry who is unavailable to face Japan because of injury.
Parry is replaced on the openside by Chloe Butler, her place in the second-row being taken by Alisha Hewett for her first start of WRWC 2017. The rest of the changes come in the backline with Sarah Riordan moving from outside-centre to fly-half as Kayla Sauvao returns to renew her centre partnership with Williams.
Kate Brown could make her Wallaroos debut off the bench in the first meeting between the nations as Australia look to bounce back from the 48-0 loss to France on day two.
“Last Sunday’s loss to France was a tough one for our team, but the group still have a lot to play for and we’ve named a side that we believe can get the job done against Japan,” said coach Paul Verrell. “Japan were impressive against the Irish in their last match and we must be mentally and physically ready for them as we head into our final pool game.
“We’ve unfortunately had to make a number of changes to the squad through injury and it’s disappointing to lose some of our more experienced players. Shannon has led this side admirably on-and-off the field and it’s a shame to have such an influential member of our squad unavailable.”
Japan coach Goshi Arimizu has also kept his changes to a minimum, rewarding the players who impressed in the first half against Ireland and led the hosts 14-0 at half-time before ultimately slipping to a 24-14 loss at UCD Bowl.
After that defeat Arimizu said his players lacked the “right sort of mental control to see us through” to arguably the greatest shock in WRWC history and he will be hoping they have learned from that experience should the Sakura 15 find themselves in a position to win only Japan’s second World Cup match.
Aya Nakajima comes into the second row in the only change to the forward pack from the Ireland defeat, while Eriko Hirano switches to the left-wing to accommodate the selection of Akari Kato for her World Cup debut.
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Pool C: France v Ireland
Ireland may have edged a tight encounter with France in the Women’s Six Nations 13-10, but it is Les Bleues who are the form team going into this Pool C decider at UCD Bowl.
France have caught the eye with their victories over Japan (72-14) and Australia (48-0), the latter a sublime display of attacking rugby that the Wallaroos simply had no answer to with wings Shannon Izar and Chloe Pelle and impressive flanker Romane Menager running in tries from anywhere.
Izar scored a hat-trick inside 25 first-half minutes, while Pelle scored two herself and they will swap wings for the match against Ireland.
France coach Samuel Cherouk also welcomes back Caroline Ladagnous, a hat-trick hero against Japan, to renew her centre partnership with Elodie Poublan, while prop Annaelle Deshaye and captain Gaëlle Mignot return to the front row, the latter having come off the bench to score her trademark try off the back of a powerful driving maul.
“When we are in the French national team we have one duty – win games and wear proudly the colours of our country,” revealed Mignot. “We need all the girls back home to feel and to say I want to be like these people and do what they do.”
Ireland coach Tom Tierney, by contrast, has rung the changes as he looks to kickstart a campaign that has seen the hosts stutter past both Australia and Japan to record two narrow wins, crucially without bonus points.
Paula Fitzpatrick is rewarded for her two-try haul off the bench against Japan with a start at number eight in a rejigged back-row alongside captain Claire Molloy and Ciara Griffin. Leah Lyons and Ailis Egan return to the front row with Marie Louise Reilly to resume a second-row partnership with Sophie Spence.
Jenny Murphy takes her place in the centres alongside Sene Naoupu with Eimear Considine’s selection on the right-wing prompting a move back to full-back for sevens star Hannah Tyrrell.
“We’ve had lots of tough games against France over the years and we know tomorrow evening is going to be no different,” said Tierney. “They have looked really good in their opening two games of the tournament and they’ll be coming into this game full of confidence.
“It’s a cup final tomorrow night, with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs, so we want the players to go out there and give it everything. It won’t be easy, but with the crowd behind them they have the ability to claim a place in the final four.”
Images: World Rugby
