Many a coach has tried and failed to find a solution to the Red Roses’ dominance over the last half-a-decade; this weekend, it will be the turn of an individual with a degree of inside knowledge to take on that unenviable task.
England enter their final Women’s Rugby World Cup pool outing against Australia seeking to match their set in the lead-up to the last final, with one of their own plotting an unlikely end to that streak.
Jo Yapp wore the white of England with distinction 70 times, the former scrum half a key figure in an era in which the side, yet to be given their now familiar floral sobriquet, conquered just about everyone yet found the ultimate prize, World Cup glory, elusive. Indeed, Yapp experienced the pain of final defeat as captain at the 2006 tournament, before stepping into coaching, guiding many of John Mitchell’s squad on their route through the English pathway. As she prepares for a reunion of sorts in Brighton on Saturday as Wallaroos, it makes her an ideal person to assess the particular challenge of preparing a side to face the tournament favourites.
“As a nation, they invested a long time before a lot of other teams,” Yapp explained on Thursday on how England have grown again. “That comes to fruition with the pathways that are in place. That’s something England have done well – these girls are getting a lot more game time than a lot of other nations are getting, and that is really evident. We sit at probably less than half of the caps that the Red Roses have. That is obviously a challenge.
“For us, the way we’ve approached it is the same as every other game. The focus remains very much on us as a squad.”
The annals of Anglo-Australian sporting rivalry are deep, but rather less so in women’s rugby union. In all, these two have met seven times over the years and England have won each and every time, most recently by a margin of 42-7 at the WXV tournament in New Zealand in October of 2023. There may, though, be an extra edge to this encounter given the stakes for the underdogs particularly – after a captivating 31-31 draw with the United States last weekend.
Failure to achieve it would see the second qualifier from Pool A come down to points difference. Australia have an advantage in playing second, with full awareness of how the USA have fared against Samoa and thus the margin of defeat they must avoid – but Yapp and her side have insisted they are intent first on victory, and then perhaps chasing the four tries they would need to make certain of progression thanks to a bonus point.
Any suggestion, though, that the Red Roses will take their eye off the ball or ease up with another victory all but certain has been met with short shrift this week. England have sought to consciously shift the narrative, assuming “We don’t want to be people’s prey, we want to be the predator, and go at them and show them what we can do,” wing Jess Breach, who wins her 50th cap this weekend and remains unbeaten in a Red Roses shirt, stressed, echoing a theme put into the players’ heads by Mitchell this week. England may be assured of their last-eight place but they do not merely want to limp in to the quarter-finals.
With the exception of captain Zoe Aldcroft, Mitchell has a fully fit squad to choose from, with Holly Aitchison available for her first appearance of the tournament to boost his fly half options. While his first-choice side is beginning to clarify, the playmaking pecking order still feels one that could change depending on form and stylistic fluctuations with Zoe Harrison and Helena Rowland highly effective in games one and two. “She was in really good nick, physically and mentally before she had her ankle injury,” Mitchell said of Aitchison. “She definitely brings flow to the attack and hunts weakness really, really well. We have three healthy fly halves after the performance of Helena last week.”
In a sign of Yapp’s influence on Mitchell’s squad, the Australia head coach spent time with all three of England’s fly halves during her time in charge of the nation’s Under 20s. In all, 13 of the Red Roses’ matchday 23 have been guided by the well-liked coach – if Natasha Hunt’s short stint under Yapp’s leadership with the Barbarians is counted. Among those most familiar with Yapp is Alex Matthews, having worked closely together at Worcester.
“I think Yappy is all about the human, all about the person, which I think a few years ago was quite new to the game,” Matthews explained. “The cultures she creates and the amount of work that she’ll put in for the girls…she genuinely cares for you. Look at Worcester and the journey they went through [before the club’s demise] and the group stuck by her which speaks volumes.
“She is just a great person and a great all-round human that did amazing things for the Red Roses in her day. Her heart is still there.”
Yapp will leave Australia after this tournament to return to England, with no job yet lined up. She has been mentioned in the past as a possible Red Roses head coach, and may again be a contender should the role come open in the future having now had experience of leading an international programme. Her candidacy would be advanced with a strong showing on Saturday, even if the Red Roses matching their record winning streak is unlikely to be in doubt.
But perhaps, at the scene of one of rugby’s greatest upsets, that is getting ahead of ourselves. Australia have not sought to directly summon the spirit of Japan from 2015, when Eddie Jones’ side in a bolt from the Brighton blue, but lock Kaitlan Leaney admitted on Thursday that the squad were all too aware of the history – and perhaps hoping to create some of their own.