Why England is favorites to win Women’s Rugby World Cup 2022
Why England is favorites to win Women’s Rugby World Cup 2022: On Saturday, New Zealand will host the beginning of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and everyone’s thoughts will be on one thing: can anyone stop England?
England will play Fiji in Auckland on the first day, having had an extra year to prepare due to the pandemic delay.
They enter the match with a stunning 25-game winning streak and as heavy favorites to win the tournament.
England has perfected a relentless and seemingly unbeatable gameplan, scoring a disproportionate number of tries from critical locations and times in matches, compared to their competitors France, New Zealand, and Canada.
Fiji
More than 35,000 people are anticipated to attend the opening tripleheader at Eden Park, where South Africa will play France, a heavily favored team despite France’s inability to advance past the semi-finals of a World Cup.
Three of the top four teams in the world get an early look at how their primary opponents are shaping up as New Zealand hosts the opening Test against Australia and England takes on Fiji in its first Test.
The attention on England’s domination will please everyone, especially the Black Ferns, who have won the World Cup five times.
Despite their team’s recent struggles, the entire nation of New Zealand is still counting on them to live up to the high expectations of its rugby-crazy population. The challenge for their team of former All-Black coaches, including Wayne Smith and Sir Graham Henry, is to figure out a way to beat England.
Documentaries aired this week gave viewers exclusive access to numerous teams and revealed dramatic moments that highlight just how challenging it will be to defeat England.
Statement
When New Zealand lost 43-12 against Exeter a year ago, head coach Glenn Moore yelled “we got bullied” at his dejected squad in the post-match review, which is featured in the current Black Fern documentary.
Moore’s pithy assessment holds up when one examines the numbers: England is bullies, boasting an unrivaled pack, driving lineout, and depth that no other team can match.
At first glance, there may not appear to be much of a difference between England, France, and New Zealand based on their performances since the beginning of 2021.
We also know, thanks to Opta, that France has the highest success rate in the scrum (91%), the highest in the tackle (91%), and the highest in goalkicking (69%), while New Zealand has the highest success rate on the gain line (67%).
However, England has made great progress in some crucial areas, giving them a distinct advantage. The first is a terrifying lineout that can completely devastate opposing teams.
The success rate for an England try increases to 48% when the lineout is taken anywhere inside the opposition’s 22; it jumps to a terrifying 71% when the ball is kicked from 5 meters out.
There are few options for defense here, save than limiting their chances to throw near the line through perfect discipline.
Time
Given England’s prowess in the air, the best method to defend against them is to maintain all eight defenders’ feet firmly on the ground and try to get behind the greatest source of strength in the drive.
The speed with which England can re-use the ball is their second greatest strength. England’s ruck speed averaged 2.83 seconds in the 2018 Six Nations. In the Pacific Fours competition, New Zealand finished ahead of Canada (3.08 seconds) and France (3.41 seconds) by a little margin.
Although these may seem like insignificant differences, England’s ability to get the ball into the hands of their powerful ball carriers swiftly eventually drives a defensive line to lose its structure. The Irish defense was outstanding in the opening half of this year’s matchup.
Ireland’s excellent drift defense, which depended on slowing their line speed and letting England play behind the gain line, did succeed in making England make some early mistakes.
England has also effectively thwarted at the breakdown thanks to their second defender’s efforts to prevent any player in a white shirt who was seeking to seal over the ball.
In the first half, England made two touchdowns. The Irish team learned the hard way that if England hasn’t beaten them by the hour mark, they probably will in the fourth quarter.
Rugby
England has averaged 18.6 points per game in the final 20 minutes over the past two years, scoring more tries in that time than any other team.
After three and a half years of professional play, English athletes are in peak physical form and can wear out even the strongest opposition. Also, if that doesn’t cut it, they have a very deep bench.
Without one of the Big Four, the World Cup would not exist. This event marks a major inflection moment for women’s rugby, as both Wales and Italy have recently turned professional and are making plans for the future of the sport.
On Sunday, when the competition shifts to Whangarei, Wales will face Scotland, Italy will take on the United States, and the Canadians will take on the Japanese.
The WXV, a groundbreaking worldwide competition featuring the top 18 sides in the world, would begin to play in the following year. The sport as a whole is benefiting from increased investment and popularity.
However, for the time being, you should get used to getting up early. The World Cup is finally back after a five-year absence.
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