Ellie Kildunne to miss England's grand-slam decider against France
Ellie Kildunne, 2024's world player of the year, will miss England's grand-slam decider against France at Twickenham on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is the only absentee from a full-bore Red Roses squad, giving an opportunity at full back to Emma Sing.
Both sides are unbeaten in the Women's Six Nations but the home team are clear favourites, having not lost in this tournament since 2018. They are on a 24-match unbeaten streak and have won 54 of their past 55 Tests in all competitions.
This year, England's smallest margin of victory (33 points) is greater than France's largest (30), but they are still seeking 80-minute domination. 'It's something we've had a chat about in the week,' John Mitchell, the head coach, said. 'We know it's there.
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Times
28-04-2025
- Times
Fix defence and decide on veterans: how Red Roses can win home World Cup
John Mitchell has a fair idea of his 32-player squad for the Women's World Cup but he would love a 33rd. The roster size for the men's tournament increased in 2023 but the women's edition is one short, with World Rugby citing that teams play fewer matches. With the domestic campaign over and another grand slam won, the Red Roses have two warm-ups — set to be at home to Spain and away to France — in August before the World Cup begins in Sunderland against the United States on August 22. Injuries may still play a part of course but Mitchell, the England head coach, is firm in his mind as to the formation of his squad. 'I'm definitely going to take 18:14 [split of forwards to backs] so some positional versatility is going to be important among the backs,' Mitchell said. 'It seems strange that the men's World Cup is 33 and we're only 32 and the teams have to come all this way. 'World Rugby will probably need to consider it going forward because otherwise you are going to have to wait for [replacement] players to be flown from overseas.' The Red Roses will break for five weeks after beating France 43-42 to seal their seventh successive Six Nations without defeat. They will regather on June 2 and begin preparing for a campaign whose endpoint is a World Cup final at Twickenham on September 27. There will be warm-weather training in Treviso and an onus on geographical variety so that, in Mitchell's words, the team aren't stuck in a 'high-performance jail'. There follow the warm-ups and then potentially six Tests to become world champions at last. England could be 32 Tests unbeaten going into the final, although France are a larger stumbling block now in a possible semi-final. After a tournament of experimentation England's squad has taken shape. Intrigue surrounds Marlie Packer and Emily Scarratt: 2014 world champions who are no longer first choice but whose experience may be enough to sustain a place. Zoe Harrison showed fine touches on Saturday, notwithstanding dropping the ball behind her own try line, and looks the No1 fly half in preference to Holly Aitchison. Another question mark is whether to select a third scrum half or have Claudia MacDonald, a starter on the left wing, cover her former position. 'It's just a case of trusting every person in that squad,' Megan Jones, the centre, said. 'I always say it but Emily Scarratt's not even on the [starting] team. That's the depth we're talking about and the sort of expertise we have.' Though England have firepower in their back three, Saturday was a reminder that they do not have a monopoly on the issue. Joanna Grisez showed supreme speed to finish the late try that gave France hope of victory and Kelly Arbey caused trouble too. France also put England under pressure with vintage forward play, carrying up the middle and offloading deftly. '[It was an] unusual defence performance,' Mitchell said of his team. 'That's probably the thing I'll unpack. I thought through the middle we weren't winning the first collision and then we weren't getting the second in. But then the edge [problems in defence] in the second half — I certainly didn't see that coming.' The return of Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, reversing her retirement, adds the World Cup's most prolific tryscorer to New Zealand's armoury. The Black Ferns were brilliant out wide in the 2022 final — England's sole defeat in their past 56 matches — through the likes of Stacey Waaka at outside centre, with Woodman-Wickliffe having been knocked out in the collision that yielded a red card for Lydia Thompson. Deprived of one final, she will seek another. It was around this stage three years ago that the Black Ferns got their act together, cramming for finals that they always win, doing so again 34-31 at Eden Park. 'New Zealand are on for a three-peat in World Cups so there's probably more pressure on them to win a World Cup than us,' Mitchell said. With France also improving on the big stage — their two Twickenham games have ended in five and one-point defeats — and Canada going well, England have three nations keen to knock them down. What is not in doubt is England's ability to score tries, with greater variety than their 2022 version. 'One thing that Mitch hammered home, especially in this game, is that we weren't here to defend a title, we were here to win one,' Abby Dow, the wing, said. 'I think often we try to defend something when actually there is a privilege and an opportunity. We're really trying to change that mindset and go for it. 'When you look at the last World Cup, how often did we score from the maul? Yes, we went to it [on Saturday], but we also had tries from our back three. The difference is that we're not just using our back three when it's not top four [teams in the world]. We're using them whenever we can and when it's on. There is a desire to say: 'Why not?' I think that's key for us.' Harrison had an adequate day off the tee, not always an area of strength for England (notably she kept the kicking duties rather than handing them to Emma Sing, the top points-scorer in the domestic game), while Morgane Bourgeois slotted all six of her conversions, keeping France's deficit to one point even though England scored an extra try. For all the Red Roses' dominance, the scoreboard is invariably close when they face Canada, France or New Zealand in opposition. Every point matters come August and September.
Times
27-04-2025
- Times
Jeopardy at last: Red Roses reality check is best thing for them
The best thing that could have happened to the Red Roses was the fact that seconds from the finish in their grand-slam decider at Twickenham, stomachs tensed, pulses raced and we watched the riveting denouement through our fingers wondering if they really could blow it. The 43-42 win was the best thing that could have happened to England for a number of reasons but primarily because this team are ranked No1 and have left the rest of the world — New Zealand apart — so far in their slipstream that the World Cup, later this summer, had just looked like being an armchair ride to the final. The fact that France nearly pinched victory on Saturday doesn't change the overall premise, though. The bigger picture is that England's next date at Twickenham should be for that final on September 27, and not only are they favourites to become champions but lifting the trophy is the only satisfactory outcome. The runners-up medals they collected behind New Zealand in 2017 and again three years ago now weigh too heavily and no doubt that weight will grow the further we progress through September, but that's just going to have to be the deal. They are in the same territory as the All Blacks were at their home men's World Cup in 2011: all those years of dominance yet the major trophy always eluding them. We thought that sport's eternal bridesmaid was Katherine Grainger, the Olympic rower, who grew sick of the sight of silver until she reached gold medal fulfilment at London 2012, yet that is where the Red Roses are, except they are even more dominant. We turned up for their grand-slam game on Saturday too much in expectation. It was barely a recognised subplot that, actually, France were on for a Six Nations grand slam too. But then Jo Grisez was streaking down the left with two minutes to go and England's flaky defence was never going to stop her. With another excellent conversion that followed, France were one point behind and it was brilliant. It is too simplistic to claim that the World Cup this summer could be the launchpad for women's rugby in England. It is simplistic because women's rugby has been well launched anyway. However, there are plans, marketing and investment, and a whole lot of hope built into the idea that this summer could do for women's rugby what England's triumph in the 2022 Euros did for women's football. There certainly feels like an appetite for it. Actually, the 37,573 crowd on Saturday was a marginal disappointment. Nevertheless, there was a completely joyful festival atmosphere that felt similar to other women's sports events. More kids, more families, less beer. Come to Twickenham for a men's international and the West Car Park is like a giant pub, with Guinness tents and champagne enclosures and pints being pulled at record pace. On Saturday, that same car park had been transformed into a fairground with dodgems and rides and cuddly toy prizes. Plus girls, loads of girls, chucking rugby balls around. That may not prove much beyond the fact this is rugby being really relished, but in a very different way, and that there is a genuine appetite for it. To keep people hungry, though, you want twists and turns and knife-edge finishes such as this one against France. The concern for the summer is that the Red Roses' coronation is just too damn straightforward, that their tournament doesn't maximise its days in the sun because it's just not so interesting when the sun's shining all the time. This is not the fault of the Red Roses themselves. Yes, they've got numbers and resources beyond any of their competitors, but well done to them for making the most of them. However, when you've only lost one match in 56 — and that was the World Cup final — and when you've won six successive Six Nations and you're coming to claim the seventh with a points difference against your previous four opponents of 213-29, then no matter your levels of excellence, your offering to the fans doesn't have much of the ingredient that is crucial for a sporting event: not knowing who is going to win. Jeopardy is the lifeblood of sport. Thank you to France for making that point, for injecting some uncertainty. Let's not kid ourselves here. There is no pretending that the World Cup has suddenly been transformed by Grisez and co and is going to be a remotely tense affair for England fans before the semi-finals. However, France left Twickenham ruing an opportunity that they won't want to miss next time and Canada will have seen this and grown in the belief that England are not untouchable. The Kiwi's Black Ferns, meanwhile, need no such encouragement. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, the Women's World Cup's record tryscorer, is coming out of retirement, a player designed to destroy a defence as poor on the edges as England's was against France. All this brings jeopardy at least to the semi-finals. Instantly, this becomes a better World Cup. Some recognition must go here to the challenges faced by the Red Roses. Yes, they've got all that weight of expectation, but that's the nature of being favourites: just deal with it. Yet it becomes more complicated in such a lop-sided sport. If so many games are so one-sided, then where do you get your edge? How do you rate your levels of excellence if the bar elsewhere is comparatively low? England's task is to self-assess continually and to insist on the highest standards. The challenge, always, is to know what heights are attainable. And if your opposition aren't challenging you, then your weaknesses will be less exposed, the work required less clear and you've forgotten how it feels to have your backs against the wall. That is another reason why this France game was so good for England: not only did it bring a reality check but it left the team with a whole shopping list of areas to improve upon. For now, though, that's another grand slam in the bag. As expected. Expectation hasn't dropped for the World Cup. But it has just got a lot more interesting.
Times
25-04-2025
- Times
Claudia MacDonald: People assumed I was a boy because I had muscles
An England coach asked Claudia MacDonald, after her third cap, how it felt to play at Twickenham. Her response was that she hadn't, really, because she came on so late. Starting on the wing against France in 2023 was an occasion she could certainly count. On Saturday, she will be there from the off once again, for a grand-slam decider against the same opposition. Every time MacDonald has taken to the Twickenham turf, her presence has been a little triumph. That she was there in 2018, when the Red Roses played Ireland after the men had beaten Australia, was remarkable because she had taken up rugby only three years previously, at Durham University. For the 2023 game against France — another grand-slam decider, in front of a crowd of 58,498 — she was not far removed from a career-threatening neck injury that kept her out of internationals for ten months before the previous year's World Cup. This weekend will be her third cap since another neck injury left her afraid of leaving the house and, again, contemplating whether she would ever play again. Absent from Red Roses duty between November 2023 and March 2025, MacDonald has excelled on her restoration, scoring three tries against Italy and Scotland and retaining the No11 jersey for the final match of the championship. 'Sometimes you have to stop and reflect and look at the last year and a half and go, 'I've come such a long way,' ' MacDonald, 29, says. 'Mo [Natasha Hunt, the scrum half] is actually incredibly good at reminding me of that journey that I've been on, and just to relax and enjoy it and smile.' Though MacDonald did not take up rugby until she was an undergraduate, she had been around the sport, spending part of her childhood in Dubai before attending St John's School in Leatherhead for sixth form. Her family watched men's internationals and she liked to imitate Jonny Wilkinson's kicking routine, and she and her brother, Alex, would play slow-motion rugby in the lounge to the tune of Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. One of the reasons she waited until she was 19 to have a proper go was because of her experiences of a girls' game nearby while she was watching her brothers play. 'There weren't very many nice comments thrown at it,' she says. 'It was all, 'Oh, they're uncoordinated, they're unfit, they're rubbish at rugby'. Everyone being told they're gay and whatever else. That was something that I struggled with a little bit when I was younger: people assuming that I was gay or that I was a boy because I was muscular and sporty. 'I didn't want to necessarily step into that because then I thought, 'Oh, those same comments are going to be thrown at me'. But no, that wasn't the case at all. I've met some of the most girly people I've ever met in my entire life playing rugby. There's a whole range of people playing. I think that's just amazing.' When MacDonald arrived at Durham in 2015, she was a netball player. Her college, Josephine Butler, had a mixed rugby team with the nearby Van Mildert and she coyly decided to turn up to training one evening. She looked far from a novice and the next day she went to a university session. It was not long before she was playing for Darlington Mowden Park and, upon graduation, for Wasps and England, as a professional when 15s contracts returned in January 2019. MacDonald is unequivocally a wing now, but she has oscillated between the flanks and scrum half (the RFU still lists her as a No9). Scott Bemand, the former England attack coach who is now Ireland's head coach, encouraged her to switch from the back three, and it was there that her international career began. At the 2022 World Cup, MacDonald started out wide in the semi-final and had a hand in the try of the tournament. Receiving the ball on her tryline, she jinked through physios and Canadian defenders, hurled a pass out to Abby Dow and watched her fellow wing run in from 70 metres. Come the final, MacDonald was on the bench and played the last half-hour of the gutting defeat by New Zealand at scrum half. 'I can't really remember much of the game, but I'd like to hope I did an all right job,' she says. MacDonald was back on the wing for the following Six Nations, but missed last year's championship because of the neck injury, meaning she was pitch-side on BBC duty for the Twickenham fixture against Ireland, analysing not only her team-mates, but also Cliodhna Moloney, her fiancée on the opposition bench. INSTAGRAM Though this year's crowd is not expected to reach the levels of the past two editions, it will be another significant occasion for the Red Roses. Whether as replacement scrum half, pundit or first-choice wing, MacDonald's presence is testament to her ability and resilience. 'That France game two years ago was just one of the most surreal moments I've ever experienced in rugby,' she says. 'I'd certainly never experienced that coach journey, which is what really sticks out in my head. We left the Lensbury [hotel in Teddington] and it took us so much longer to get to Twickenham than we ever anticipated. 'We were all — well, I certainly was anyway — glued up to the window because I couldn't believe the number of people that were out on the streets, the people that were in the pubs and as they saw us come past, they all came out on to the streets cheering us on.' England v France Women's Six Nations Twickenham Saturday, 4.45pm TV BBC2
