England women have one more memory to make

LONDON :England head into Saturday's Women's Rugby World Cup final against Canada with a choice of historical statistics to lean on - a recent form line that makes them hot favourites, but a dismal finals record that will give their rivals real belief.

England are on a world record run of 32 successive wins and since 2019 they have won an incredible 62 of 63 games. However, the one that got away was the one that mattered most - the 2022 World Cup final when they lost to New Zealand.

That meant that they had lost five of the six successive finals they reached from 2002 - all five to the Black Ferns. The one that went their way was the 21-9 win over Canada in 2014 that brought their second title, following 1994.

There are 14 players in Saturday's matchday 23 who were involved in the 2022 final, with Ellie Kildunne, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Amy Cokayne, Zoe Aldcroft, Abbie Ward and Alex Matthews starting in both.

Scrumhalf Natasha Hunt and Matthews also played in the 2014 final.

In 2022 England led 14-0 after 14 minutes but had Lydia Thompson sent off for a high hit soon after, and then lost Aldcroft, captain on Saturday, to a head injury after 27 minutes.

They seemed set to triumph when they opted for a lineout five metres from the New Zealand line, when trailing by three in the final minute, only for the hosts to steal the ball and run out 34-31 winners.

England have a new coach since then, John Mitchell, and have embraced their run to the final and the prospect of playing in front of a world record 82,000 crowd at Twickenham.

Below are the views of some of the current squad as they prepare for Saturday's match and ponder the impact they are making.

Alex Matthews: "Winning in 2014 was an amazing feeling. It was a pinch-yourself