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Red Roses eager to ease heartbreak at World Cup
The Straits Times
|August 17, 2025
England star Ellie Kildunne believes the tournament hosts are "more than ready" to put an end to their Women's Rugby World Cup "heartbreak" as they seek to win the one trophy that has eluded them for so long.
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LONDON -
Host nation England head into the event as favourites, having lost only once in their past 58 matches — a defeat by New Zealand in the Covid-delayed 2022 World Cup final in which Kildunne played.
England, top of the world rankings, have won six successive Six Nations Grand Slams and also defeated New Zealand's Black Ferns in each of the teams' past three meetings.
Yet they have lost five of the last six World Cup finals to New Zealand, with 2014 — when England beat Canada in the showpiece match — their most recent global 15-a-side title. Their first World Cup trophy was in 1994.
But for 25-year-old fullback Kildunne, the 2025 edition is an opportunity to put things right, with England launching the tournament against the United States in Sunderland on Aug 22.
This story is from the August 17, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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