Middleton hails Red Roses resilience

England Women's coach Simon Middleton praised the resilience of his side despite their 32-41 loss to New Zealand in Saturday's Women’s Rugby World Cup Final.

In a game of huge quality at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast, the lead changed five times over the course of 80 minutes but England Women came off second best in defence of the title they won at France 2014.

Two tries from Lydia Thompson, one from Izzy Noel-Smith and a penalty try were scored for England, as well as 10 points from the boot of Emily Scarratt, in a brave performance in Ireland.

England defeated Spain, Italy, USA and France on their way to the final and Middleton was full of pride in the way his players performed despite the defeat on Saturday.

“I couldn’t be prouder as the girls gave everything they could and there was no shortage of heart, energy and passion,” he told England Rugby.

“We just couldn’t get enough possession in the second-half to be able to turn the game how we wanted.

“We’ve had a fantastic year with the things we achieved, we’ve pulled up short tonight but we’ve been everywhere and played everyone and until tonight we’ve been successful.

“I thought it was an amazing occasion for the game with the energy in the stadium and it was fantastic match for the spectators to watch."