England women's national rugby union team
The England women's national rugby union team, also known as the Red Roses, represents England in women's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Women's Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on a total of 18 out of 27 occasions – winning the Grand Slam 16 times and the Triple Crown 22 times – making them the most successful side in the tournament's history. They won the Women's Rugby World Cup in 1994 and 2014, and have been runners-up on five other occasions. Their interim coach from May to October 2023 is Louis Deacon, after which John Mitchell will take over as permanent head coach.[1]
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| Nickname(s) | Red Roses | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | Red Rose | ||
| Union | Rugby Football Union | ||
| Head coach | Louis Deacon (interim) [lower-alpha 1] | ||
| Captain | Marlie Packer | ||
| Most caps | Sarah Hunter (141) | ||
| Top scorer | Emily Scarratt (749) | ||
| Top try scorer | Sue Day (61) | ||
| Home stadium | Twickenham | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 1 (as of 9 January 2023) | ||
| Highest | 1 (2012–2013, 2014–2015, 2017, 2020–) | ||
| Lowest | 4 (2015) | ||
| First international | |||
 Wales 4–22 England  (Pontypool, Wales; 5 April 1987) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
England 101–0 South Africa  (London, England; 14 May 2005) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 New Zealand 67–0 England (Burnham, New Zealand; 13 August 1997) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 9 (First in 1991) | ||
| Best result | Champions, 1994, 2014 | ||
History
Until 2009 the badge and logo of England women's national teams was significantly different from that worn by men's teams. However, in 2009 in anticipation of the merger between the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football Union for Women England teams adopted the men's rose.
England have taken part in every Women's Rugby World Cup competition, winning in 1994 and 2014 and finishing as runner-up on five other occasions.
The 1995/1996 season saw the introduction of a Home Nations Championship between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which England won in its inaugural year. England won the Championship every year, except for the 1997/98 season when it was won by Scotland.
France joined the competition in the 1998/99 season making it the Five Nations Championship, with England achieving the Grand Slam in three successive seasons.
In the 2001/02 season, Ireland rejoined the fold in preparation for the World Cup and the competition expanded to be known as the Six Nations. Since then England have finished lower than runner-up on only 2 occasions, in 2013 and 2015 respectively, and have won the title on 13 separate occasions. This includes 7 consecutive tournament triumphs between 2006 and 2012 and the Grand Slam on 11 more occasions, including 3 times in a row between 2006–2008 and 2010–2012, respectively.
Records
| Top 20 rankings as of 15 May 2023[2] | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
| 1 |  | England | 94.55 |
| 2 | | New Zealand | 93.19 |
| 3 | |  France | 89.62 |
| 4 | | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | 84.67 |
| 5 | | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | 78.00 |
| 6 | | Wales | 77.00 |
| 7 | |  United States | 76.80 |
| 8 | |  Italy | 74.63 |
| 9 | |  Scotland | 71.19 |
| 10 | |  Ireland | 71.09 |
| 11 | |  Japan | 67.94 |
| 12 | |  Spain | 66.35 |
| 13 | | South Africa | 66.15 |
| 14 | |  Russia | 61.10 |
| 15 |  1 |  Netherlands | 60.02 |
| 16 |  1 |  Hong Kong | 59.22 |
| 17 | |  Fiji | 58.33 |
| 18 | |  Samoa | 58.01 |
| 19 | |  Kazakhstan | 57.09 |
| 20 | |  Sweden | 56.01 |
| *Change from the previous week | |||
Overall
- Full internationals only
Correct as of 30 October 2022
| Opponent | First game | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1998 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Canada | 1993 | 32 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 87.50% |
| Fiji | 2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| France | 1991 | 53 | 39 | 0 | 14 | 73.58% |
 Germany | 1997 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Ireland | 1996 | 28 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 92.86% |
| Italy | 1991 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Kazakhstan | 2000 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Netherlands | 1990 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| New Zealand | 1997 | 29 | 10 | 1 | 18 | 34.48% |
| Russia | 1994 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Samoa | 2005 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Scotland | 1994 | 31 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 93.55% |
| South Africa | 2005 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Spain | 1991 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 87.50% |
| Sweden | 1988 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| United States | 1991 | 21 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 95.00% |
| Wales | 1987 | 40 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 95.00% |
| Total | 1987 | 301 | 255 | 3 | 43 | 84.62% |
World Cup
| Rugby World Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Squad | ||||
| 1991 |
Runners-up | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 28 | Squad | ||||
| 1994 |
Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 39 | Squad | ||||
| 1998 |
Third Place | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 219 | 78 | Squad | ||||
| 2002 |
Runners-up | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 138 | 37 | Squad | ||||
| 2006 |
Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 146 | 47 | Squad | ||||
| 2010 |
Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 171 | 23 | Squad | ||||
| 2014 |
Champions | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 184 | 37 | Squad | ||||
| 2017 |
Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 211 | 88 | Squad | ||||
| 2021 |
Runners-up | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 270 | 84 | Squad | ||||
| 2025 |
Qualified | |||||||||||
| 2029 |
TBD | |||||||||||
| 2033 | ||||||||||||
| Total | Champions† | 44 | 36 | 1 | 7 | 1487 | 451 | |||||
| ||||||||||||
Players
Current squad
On 2 March 2023, England head coach Simon Middleton named a 42-player squad in preparation for the 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship.[3]
On 22 March 2023, prop Mackenzie Carson was confirmed as an additional member of England's Six Nations squad, after her application to transfer her national allegiance from Canada, under new World Rugby eligibility regulations, was approved.[4]
On 30 March 2023, lock Delaney Burns was called up to the England squad, ahead of their second round Six Nations fixture against Italy.[5]
- Head coach: Simon Middleton
- Attack coach: Scott Bemand
- Forwards coach: Louis Deacon
Notable players
England have three former players who have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame:
| Players | Year inducted | Refs |
|---|---|---|
| Carol Isherwood | 2014 | [6] |
| Gillian Burns | 2014 | [7] |
| Margaret Alphonsi | 2016 | [8] |
Honours
- Winners (19): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
- Grand Slam (17): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
- Triple Crown (23): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
References
- Orchard, Sara (4 May 2023). "England: John Mitchell appointed women's head coach after Simon Middleton departure". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- "Red Roses squad announced for 2023 TikTok Women's Six Nations". England Rugby. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- "Women's Six Nations 2023: Ex-Canada prop Mackenzie Carson to start for England". BBC Sport. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "Women's Six Nations 2023: Delaney Burns to make debut in new-look England pack". BBC Sport. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- "Carol Isherwood - World Rugby - Hall of Fame". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- "Gillian Burns - World Rugby - Hall of Fame". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- "Margaret Alphonsi - World Rugby - Hall of Fame". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- James Riach (17 August 2014). "England 21-9 Canada – Women's rugby World Cup match report". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- John Mitchell was appointed head coach on 4 May 2023 but will not take post until the conclusion of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in October.
External links
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