England rule out complacency

England last played Canada in November and won 32-3 but 12 months ago lost the

Nations Cup to Canada in America.

“I would be lying if I said we hadn’t been doing our maths bit after watching

the game and tried to figure out the potential semi-finalists but it is very

difficult to do that when you have a game like Canada staring you in the

face before that,” Scarratt said.

“All our focus is on Canada to begin with, because things could still change

quite a lot. None of it is a done deal yet. That what makes it so exciting.

“The Ireland result has really put women’s rugby on the map because it is no

longer about two or three nations beating everyone. The tournament really is

about five, six or seven teams putting their hands up and making it really

competitive.”

Both England and Canada have collected two bonus-point wins to date, so the

loser could still potentially progress to the semi-finals with a losing

bonus point as the best runner-up, depending on results in the two other

pools.

Ireland head coach Philip Doyle, meanwhile, has dramatically altered his team

to face Kazakhstan in their final Pool B match in Marcoussis, with just five

players retained from the starting XV who defeated New Zealand 17-14 on

Tuesday. Lynne Cantwell captains the Irish side, who need a victory to set

up a likely semi-final against hosts France at the Stade Jean Bouin next

Wednesday.

“We’ve now got one foot inside a semi-final of a World Cup and that is as far

as it is,” Doyle said. “Now we look to the next game – Kazakhstan. Step

three in our little plan. That is all we are looking at.

“We have picked up a fair few bumps and bruises. Undoubtedly, I’ll rotate the

team. We’re good enough to win the World Cup. Of course, we need a little

lady luck but we’re not here to make up the numbers.”

Ireland’s team captain Fiona Coghlan said she and her team-mates had been

overwhelmed by the reaction since their historic success against New

Zealand.

“It’s been amazing – the phone has just not stopped. We’re on the front of the

papers at home and it’s just galvanised the country,” she told BBC Sport.

“But these tournaments are about consistency and playing every game for 80

minutes, so the next game is Kazakhstan for 80 minutes.”

- Women’s World Cup: Ireland stun four-time

champions New Zealand

– Women’s World Cup: England cruise past Spain to

maintain perfect start

– Women’s World Cup: New-look England look to move up

a gear against Spain

Article source: http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bruce-Craig-Nick-Blofeld-new-roles-Bath-Rugby/story-21939598-detail/story.html

England rule out complacency