'Moment in time' - England stars including Ellie Kildunne celebrate 'unimaginable' World Cup triumph they hope can mark turning point for rugby
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Published 27/09/2025 at 21:04 GMT+1
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Red Roses including Ellie Kildunne celebrated a moment for women's rugby after England won the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. 15 years after England lost the 2010 final to New Zealand at the Twickenham Stoop, 81,885 fans packed into the home of English rugby to watch The Red Roses sweep aside Canada 33-13 on a record-breaking day for the women's game.
'That's when big players stand up' - England 'buzzing' to perform in front of record crowd
Video credit: SNTV
England’s victorious stars paid tribute to an "unimaginable" occasion at Allianz Stadium Twickenham as The Red Roses won the Women’s Rugby World Cup final 33-13.
Asia Hogan-Rochester threatened to spoil the party in front of a sell-out crowd at the home of English rugby when she crossed the whitewash with six minutes gone after slick handling from Canada, but England barely missed a beat and hit back three minutes later through the side’s superstar Ellie Kildunne.
And England never surrendered the lead, as a record-breaking 81,885 fans roared them home on a day that England’s staff and coaches hope can be a turning point for women’s rugby.
Plenty of empty seats were visible in the 20,000-capacity Stade Jean Boulin in 2014 for England’s last World Cup victory but this time the packed Allianz Stadium crowd stayed well after the final whistle to watch The Red Roses lift the trophy, after Amy Cokayne, Alex Matthews and Abbie Ward also crossed for the home side.
"No pressure, we thrive in this," Kildunne told the BBC. "We have big players. People care, look at this one [Meg Jones] smashing them week in, week out. We will be drinking, dancing and celebrating as a group."
Defence coach Sarah Hunter, who started for England in the 2014 final and captained the side when they were agonisingly defeated by New Zealand four years ago, added: "It means everything. It is a moment in time for the women's game. For our girls to experience being world champions in front of an amazing ground is incredible.
"I am just immensely proud of them. Everyone spoke about Canada's threat but we just stuck to our process. We denied them access at all points. I will forever be proud of them for what they've done today."
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'Straight back to zero for me' - Kildunne reflects on World Player of the Year award
Video credit: TNT Sports
Captain Aldcroft: 'We dreamed big enough today'
England had won every game since the 2021 defeat in Eden Park, but while they have qualified for all seven World Cup finals in the 21st century, they have been defeated five times (all by New Zealand) so there was reason for pessimism - especially when the underdogs opened the scoring.
The Maple Leafs knocked The Black Ferns out in the semi-finals this time around but were blown away by England, while Hogan-Rochester said she was proud to have "redefined" the sport in Canada on an occasion that veteran England scrum-half Natasha Hunt described as "unimaginable".
And triumphant captain Zoe Aldcroft told the BBC: "I could not believe that we have done this. We have spoken about inspiring the nation and putting women's rugby on the map and honestly, I think we have done this throughout the whole tournament.
"I know those girls can put a performance like that out and we had belief in every single one of those girls. We had no doubt in our minds that we were going to come out today and do this job.
"Part of our journey was inspiring young girls and we talk about reinventing women's rugby. We hope we have inspired young girls out there to go and pick up a ball, any kind of ball, any kind of sport and do whatever they want to in the world because if you dream big enough, you can get it.
"We dreamed big enough today."
Watch and stream the Gallagher PREM, Quilter Nations Series and Premiership Women's Rugby live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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