The star of the show the last time England reigned supreme, Emily Scarratt believes that she and her teammates will need to be at their very best to overcome France in tomorrow’s Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-final.
Champions in 2014, with Scarratt finishing as the tournament’s top points scorer, England will be bidding to reach a fifth final in a row when they take on the French at Belfast’s Kingspan Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm).
Both teams won all three of their respective pool games comfortably and Scarratt, who is joined by Kay Wilson at the top of England’s scoring charts this time around, is anticipating a titanic encounter.
“Knockout games are always tough,” said the 27-year-old.
“We did have some really big challenges in the pool stages. The scorelines might not reflect that but we always set ourselves up against ourselves and what we want to achieve.
“France are going to pose some very different challenging questions but we‘ve just got to stick to what we want to do and how we’re going to impose ourselves on the game, and see where that leaves us.
“We know they’ve gone really well in this tournament so far and are looking like a different side than they were in the Six Nations.
“I don’t think France ever go under the radar. I think they’ve always had some amazing players, a great team, and I think they’re really pulling it together in this tournament.”
France skipper Gaëlle Mignot is similarly wary of the threat posed by England
She said: “England is a capable team, which is able to produce a high performance.
“They play just as well in front as behind, scoring great tries.
“It’s a well-rounded team and it will be very difficult to get the better of them. We will need to be very clean, making no mistakes if we want to win.
“I think it’s going to be a great rugby match on Tuesday.”
Hosts Ireland finished second in Pool C and meet Australia (kick-off 2pm) in the play-offs for fifth place, with head coach Tom Tierney keen for his team to finish their campaign on a high.
“Since arriving in Belfast on Friday, the squad have had some downtime and settled well into the city, and training has been very positive,” he said.
“We know what the Australians will bring to the game, and we will have to be ready to match their physicality from the start.
“We’ve reviewed our own games and looked at areas where we can improve in both attack and defence.
“There is huge pride in this team and we’re looking to finish this tournament with two performances.”
Wales will also be in the mix for a fifth-placed finish and face Canada in the other play-off in that section of the draw at Queen’s University (kick-off 5pm).
The pair met in Pool A, with Canada running out 15-0 winners.
“I’m sure Canada will have learnt a lot about us in that game and they’ll prepare accordingly but the key for us coming out of that encounter, and the pool stage as a whole, was that we gained belief in ourselves and our structures,” said head coach Rowland Phillips.
“The performance against Hong Kong (Wales won 39-15) wasn’t acceptable. We know we need to be – and can be – at our best to go one step better against Canada this time around.”
Italy, who lost all three of their games in Pool B, take on Japan at Queens University (kick-off 12pm) in the semi-finals of the ninth-placed play-offs.
