England win Women’s Rugby World Cup: Zoe Aldcroft savours Twickenham triumph

Head coach John Mitchell, who suffered semi-final defeat when he led his native New Zealand at the men’s World Cup in 2003 and was part of England’s men’s backroom staff when they lost in the 2019 final, said the consequences of potentially seeing another title slip away haunted him in the build-up to the final.

“I’ve tried to stay present, but the past jumped into my head and the future jumped into my head as well. I gave myself a few uppercuts and tried to stay present,” he said.

“It does create emotions and feelings that are unusual, especially when you get to a point where the opportunity is presented for us to do the job.

“I have now been part of bringing closure to a World Cup, which is very fulfilling.”

The 61-year-old said victory was proof of the quality of England’s spirit and togetherness as much as their skills on the pitch.

“We always knew that we were going to be good at the rugby, but ultimately our culture won,” he said.

“All 32 players – all the staff – brought into how we want to, what we value, and those values are guiding us to this point.

“I got out of the girls’ way this week. They just needed to finish what we started, and they certainly did that.”

England scrum-half Natasha Hunt said the scale of the win and the occasion was “unimaginable”.

Hunt, 36, is a veteran of England’s most recent World Cup win in 2014 and was controversially left out of the squad for the 2022 tournament.

“I don’t think any of us could have imagined it would have been like this,” she said.

“I am so proud of the girls. I hope this stays for women’s rugby.”