Red Roses hoping to extend winning streak to 30 games while Wallaroos hunt for spot in quarter-finals
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othing the Red Roses do is boring. Those are the words of the centre Tatyana Heard as England head into their final pool match of the Rugby World Cup with the aim of topping the pool and equalling their own world record of consecutive wins. If the heavy favourites come away with a victory against Australia, they will extend their winning streak to 30 games.
Their previous 30-match run ended in the 2022 World Cup final loss, which is the last time they were defeated. Discussions in the buildup to this tournament had been around whether it would be beneficial for England to have lost a game between the World Cups to bank a different experience. But that is not the mentality in the Red Roses camp and the defence coach Sarah Hunter says the current run of victories has not been brought up.
When asked on the eve of the Australia match about the relentless winning, Heard said: “I wouldn’t say anything we do ever gets boring. There is so much competition within training, within matches, regardless of score lines we are always trying to perform at our best and put our best foot forward. There’s also selection that comes into place, every single individual that pulls on a shirt they want to perform. I don’t think that people think about the fact that something we do might be boring, we have the best job in the world. We are just trying to enjoy ourselves and trying to be the best we can be.”
