Women's rugby Being favourites is irrelevant to us, says England boss

ENGLAND head coach John Mitchell insists the tag of being Women’s Rugby World Cup favourites is “irrelevant”.

- Rebecca JOHNSON

The Red Roses kick off this year’s World Cup at the Stadium of Light against the United States tonight and also face Samoa and Australia in Pool A.

England enter the tournament ranked number one in the world, but head coach Mitchell believes talk of being favourites is “irrelevant”

When asked what challenges that title presents, Mitchell replied: “It doesn’t really matter. We start the tournament equal like everyone else.

“Being favourites is irrelevant to us. It might be relevant to your section of the world. We've just got to be where our feet are and earn the right each week?”

England are on a 27-game winning run and recorded warm-up victories against Spain and France earlier this month.

Tonight's opponents the USA are ranked 10th in the world and Mitchell believes that, while his side are likely to be “hunted” by teams during the tournament, they are ready to embrace that.