Black Ferns edge out England 34-31 to clinch Rugby World Cup

New Zealand 34-31 England, Eden Park

Ayesha Leti-l'iga scored a try in the 71st minute as New Zealand edged out England 34-31 to win the Rugby World Cup in a thrilling final at Eden Park on Saturday.

This was also New Zealand's sixth World Cup title - the most by any team and now have defeated England in the final for the fifth time after 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2017. It also brought an end to England's record 30-game winning streak under Simon Middleton.

England's chances were also greatly hampered by red card to Lydia Thompson at the end of the opening quarter but they put on a great fight despite being a player down to challenge the hosts before eventually letting the game slip.

New Zealand's win came despite a hat-trick from Amy Cokayne while Ellie Kildunne and Marlie Packer also touched down for the visitors.

The opening try of the game came inside the first five minutes as England worked the ball from left to right allowing full-back Ellie Kildunne to space out and dive over and vice captain Emily Scarratt kicked the conversion.

New Zealand had a chance to respond after a penalty off a line out but Renee Holmes' kick shaved off the left post to keep them scoreless but England looked threatening as they doubled their tally by the 14th minute as Cokayne scored her first try off a rumbling maul to touchdown. Scarratt once again was spot on with the conversion to make it 0-14.

At the end of the opening quarter, Middleton's side suffered a huge setback with Thompson sent-off for a reckless tackle on Portia Woodman leaving them a player short with three quarters of the game left. Woodman too had to leave the field after the incident.

Nevertheless, New Zealand immediately made use of the numerical advantage as Georgia Ponsonby burrowed over following a line out and Holmes slotted a conversion. Despite being down on numbers, England made a statement that they are far from being over with Marlie Packer scoring her sixth try of the tournament following a line out but Scarratt's conversion hit the post leaving the scoreline 7-19.

Nevertheless, the momentum once again swung towards New Zealand as they passed the ball wide to sub winger Ayesha Leti-l'iga, who had all the space to dot down and Holmes' conversion brought the gap down to 14-19.

New Zealand struggled to deal with England's maul which once again proved productive as Cokayne dived over for her second and Scarratt's extras made it 14-26 despite a player down. However, New Zealand pulled them back a bit before the break as Amy Rule spotted a gap on the left and ran over to reach the line making it 19-26 at the end of an exciting opening half.

New Zealand looked more confident heading after the break as centre Stacey Fluhler sent a dummy on the left to go past Scarratt. With Stacey Fluhler and Holmes exchanging pass, New Zealand went over through Fluhler but the conversion went wide.

The momentum continued as the Black Ferns went into the lead for the first time in the game with this time with this time replacement Krystal Murray dived in the corner. Holmes once again missed the conversion but New Zealand had a lead of 29-26 with 30 minutes left in the game.

For the third time in the game, Cokayne dived over at the back of a maul to complete her hat-trick and more importantly kept England in the hunt despite Scarratt missing out on the extras making it 29-31 as the game entered the final quarter.

With 15 minutes left in the game, New Zealand lost replacement Kennedy Simon to yellow card for a high shot. The decisive moment came in the 72nd minute as Fluhler evaded England tackle to brilliantly offload to Leti-liga, who touched down making it 34-31. England though had a chance to level the scores with a late penalty but they kicked to the corner. However, their line out let them down perhaps for the first time in the tournament as New Zealand went on to win the title for the sixth time.

Team line up:

Black Ferns: 1. Phillipa Love, 2. Georgia Ponsonby, 3. Amy Rule, 4. Maiakawanakaulani Roos, 5. Chelsea Bremner, 6. Alana Bremner, 7. Sarah Hirini, 8. Charmaine McMenamin, 9. Kendra Cocksedge, 10. Ruahei Demant (cc), 11. Portia Woodman, 12. Theresa Fitzpatrick, 13. Stacey Fluhler, 14. Ruby Tui, 15. Renee Holmes

Reserves: 16. Luka Connor, 17. Krystal Murray, 18. Santo Taumata, 19. Joanah Ngan-Woo, 20. Kennedy Simon (cc), 21. Ariana Bayler, 22. Hazel Tubic, 23. Ayesha Leti-I'iga

England: 1. Vickii Cornborough, 2. Amy Cokayne, 3. Sarah Bern, 4. Zoe Aldcroft, 5. Abbie Ward, 6. Alex Matthews, 7. Marlie Packer, 8. Sarah Hunter (c), 9. Leanne Infante, 10. Zoe Harrison, 11. Abby Dow, 12. Holly Aitchison,13. Emily Scarratt, 14. Lydia Thompson, 15. Ellie Kildunne

Reserves: 16. Lark Davies, 17. Maud Muir, 18. Shaunagh Brown, 19. Cath O'Donnell, 20. Poppy Cleall, 21. Sadia Kabeya, 22. Claudia MacDonald, 23. Tatyana Heard