England captain Zoe Aldcroft ready for World Cup final: ‘It is our time now’ – UK Times

England captain Zoe Aldcroft believes her side are ready to fulfil their Women’s Rugby World Cup dream as they take on Canada in the final.

A sold-out, record crowd of around 82,000 will be in attendance at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham as the Red Roses bid to win the World Cup for the first time since 2014.

England have suffered defeat in the last two tournament finals to New Zealand, and will have the pressure of playing at home in front of an expectant crowd to contend with as they look to extend their 32-match unbeaten run.

Aldcroft insists that her team will relish the occasion and embrace the sport’s biggest stage as they attempt to secure the trophy.

“As a group, we are so excited to get out there,” Aldcroft, who was taken off with a head injury inside half-an-hour of the last final, said. “We have been working on this now for three years and it is our time now, we really feel like that.

“We’re so excited to experience [a full Twickenham]. It’s something that we’ve never experienced but we’ve wanted for so long.

“I think just the momentum and the impact that we have had on fans throughout the tournament from the start of Sunderland to coming now into Twickenham it’s just going to be so exciting to see where we have pushed women’s rugby to and just excited for this new era of women’s rugby on Saturday.”

Canada have arguably been the form side of the competition, producing a stunning semi-final performance to knock out the defending champion Black Ferns.

Kevin Rouet’s cohesive, calm and highly dangerous side entered the tournament ranked second in the world having crowdfunded nearly £540,000 to boost their preparations for this tournament.

England head coach John Mitchell has been impressed by his final opposition, and expects a tough contest.

“They have been outstanding and played really great rugby, we respect them hugely, “Mitchell said. “We know it is going to take an 80-minute performance. They have grown as well, they are fitter and they deserve to be in the final as well.”