2010 Women's Rugby World Cup final

The 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match that determined the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup winner. The match occurred on 5 September 2010 at the Twickenham Stoop in Twickenham, London and was contested between New Zealand and England for a third time. It was England's record fifth appearance in a Final and New Zealand's fourth. New Zealand made history with their fourth back-to-back title after defeating England in a tightly contested match.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

2010 Rugby World Cup Final

Event	2010 Rugby World Cup
New Zealand England 13 10
Date	5 September 2010
Venue	Twickenham Stoop, Twickenham, London
Referee	Sarah Corrigan (Australia)[1]
Attendance	13,253
← 2006 2014 →

Route to the final

Main article: 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup

New Zealand		Round	England
Opponent	Result	Pool stage	Opponent	Result
South Africa	55–3	Match 1	Ireland	27–0
Australia	32–5	Match 2	Kazakhstan	82–0
Wales	41–8	Match 3	United States	37–10
Pool A Po Nation P W D L PF PA PD TF TA BP TP 1  New Zealand 3 3 0 0 128 16 +112 22 2 3 15 2  Australia 3 2 0 1 93 44 +49 14 8 2 10 3  South Africa 3 1 0 2 18 127 -109 3 19 0 4 4  Wales 3 0 0 3 30 82 -52 4 14 1 1		Final standing	Pool B Po Nation P W D L PF PA PD TF TA BP TP 1  England 3 3 0 0 146 10 +136 22 2 3 15 2  Ireland 3 2 0 1 59 42 +17 11 6 2 10 3  United States 3 1 0 2 73 59 +14 11 10 1 5 4  Kazakhstan 3 0 0 3 3 170 -167 0 26 0 0
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
France	45–7	Semi-finals	Australia	15–0

New Zealand was placed in Pool A with South Africa, Australia and Wales. England was in Pool B along with Ireland, Kazakhstan and the United States. New Zealand started their World Cup campaign with a 55–3 trouncing of South Africa. Carla Hohepa scored a hat-trick and Kelly Brazier slotted in five conversions. South Africa's only points came by way of a penalty in the 66th minute.^[7] Australia were New Zealand's next opponents in the pool; Wallaroos Prop Lindsay Morgan shocked the defending champions by scoring first in the 8th minute. Despite playing into the elements for most of the first half, the Black Ferns managed to go into halftime 22–5. They only managed 10 points in the second half as they defeated Australia 32–5.^[8] Kelly Brazier's hat-trick helped New Zealand thrash Wales 41–8 in their last pool game.^[9] New Zealand met France in the semi-final, they scored five tries with three successful conversions in the first half. France only answer came from hooker, Laetitia Salles, who scored a late first half try just before the break and begin halftime 31–7. New Zealand scored only 14 points in the second half and ended the game 45–7.^[10][11]

England beat Ireland 27–0 in their first pool match as they scored four unanswered tries. In their second pool game, Fiona Pocock and Charlotte Barras each scored a hat-trick as England ran in 14 tries as they heavily defeated Kazakhstan 82–0. Inaugural champions, the United States were England's last pool opponents. Danielle Waterman scored a brace of tries and four other try scorers also crossed the try line to help England beat USA 37–10. England met Australia who had reached the semi-finals for the first time.^[12] It was a hard-fought match but England triumphed in the end, 15–0, as they booked a final showdown with New Zealand.^[13]

Match

5 September 2010

New Zealand	13–10	England
Try: Hohepa 33' Con: Brazier 34' Pen: Brazier 56', 66'	Report	Try: Barras 61' Con: McLean 62' Pen: McLean 43'

Twickenham Stoop Attendance: 13,253 Referee: Sarah Corrigan

FB 15 Victoria Grant RW 14 Carla Hohepa OC 13 Huriana Manuel IC 12 Kelly Brazier LW 11 Renee Wickcliffe FH 10 Anna Richards SH 9 Emma Jensen N8 8 Casey Robertson OF 7 Justine Lavea BF 6 Melissa Ruscoe (c) RL 5 Victoria Heighway LL 4 Vita Robinson TP 3 Melodie Bosman HK 2 Fiao'o Fa'amausili LP 1 Ruth McKay Replacements: HK 16 Karina Penetito PR 17 Stephanie Te Ohaere-Fox LK 18 Linda Itunu FL 19 Joan Sione SH 20 Kendra Cocksedge FH 21 Rebecca Hull CE 22 Trish Hina Coach: Brian Evans

FB 15 Danielle Waterman RW 14 Charlotte Barras OC 13 Emily Scarratt IC 12 Rachael Burford LW 11 Katherine Merchant FH 10 Katy McLean SH 9 Amy Turner N8 8 Catherine Spencer (c) OF 7 Margaret Alphonsi BF 6 Sarah Hunter RL 5 Joanna McGilchrist LL 4 Tamara Taylor TP 3 Sophie Hemming HK 2 Amy Garnett LP 1 Rochelle Clark Replacements: HK 16 Emma Croker PR 17 Claire Purdy PR 18 Rebecca Essex LK 19 Sarah Beale SH 20 La Toya Mason FH 21 Alice Richardson CE 22 Amber Penrith Coach: Gary Street

Summary

England spent the first ten minutes of the game stuck in their own half but did not concede a single point. Anna Richards was sin-binned in the 22nd minute for killing the ball and was later joined by Mel Bosman 7 minutes later for the same offence, however England could not capitalize on the fact that New Zealand were down to 13 players. Winger Carla Hohepa eventually broke through the English defence and scored for the Black Ferns, a successful conversion by Kelly Brazier put them in the lead 7–0 at half-time.

Three minutes into the second half Katy McLean kicked a penalty and reduced their deficit to 5 points. 13 minutes later Brazier kicked another penalty and increased New Zealand's lead to 10–3. New Zealand captain Melissa Ruscoe was sin-binned in the 57th minute, this time England took advantage of the Black Ferns misfortune as Charlotte Barras scored moments later and a conversion to Katy McLean leveled the game at 10–10. Kelly Brazier's penalty in the 66th minute helped New Zealand secure their fourth World title as they edged England 13–10.^{[2][14][4][5][15]}