Women’s Rugby World Cup Semifinals Recap
- therookiereporters
- Sep 23
- 3 min read
With the finals next weekend, let’s recap who got through and how from our semifinals match!
New Zealand v Canada
Canada struck gold first with Pelletier scoring the first try and a conversion from her, too. 3 minutes later, Hogen-Rochester added to the scoreboard after a confident pass to her in free space on the right wing. Symonds took the third try of the match, 20 minutes in, after 10+ phases by the Canadians. De Geode had a tantalising close conversion shot that bounced off the right post, and the score was elevated to 0-17. A couple of minutes later, Tanya Kalounivale scored New Zealand’s first try, and Holmes got the conversion to get them on the scoreboard. De Goede, like lightning, sprinted to the try line and got the conversion to add another 7 points to Canada’s lead. At halftime, the score was 7-24.
2 minutes into the second half, Tessier and De Goede increased their lead once more over the reigning champions. Braxton furthered New Zealand’s points, and Sorensen-McGee scored a great try after catching the ball to add to the attempted comeback of the Black Ferns. We had an HIA for Forteza, and she was ruled fit to play, so we reswitched positions with Senft on the bench. Due to an offside offence by New Zealand, Canada took a penalty to take 3 points, making it 19-34.
The Mastercard Player of the Match was Justine Pelletier.
Score: 19-34 to Canada
France v England
Le Crunch, as it’s known, only one of these nations will prevail in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025
Finals to face the Maple Leafs. Ellie Kildunne got the first points on the scoreboard with the world's best female player throwing a dummy switch on France’s Kelly Arbey to score under the posts, allowing an easy conversion. France made a comeback 24 minutes in with Konde scoring their opening try; however, they missed their conversion as it went just to the left of the goal. France was close to getting ahead of the Red Roses; however, a forward pass disallowed their try. We had a brief moment where England may have extended their lead, but there was a knock on by Tatyana Heard. This means we went into halftime with 2 points separating them.
Into the second half, England nearly scored a try within 2 minutes; however, it was disallowed due to a forward pass from Kildunne to Dow. However, an awesome try from Cokayne after a 20 metre drive in a maul awarded us another 7 points. France immediately responded with a try from Arbey and a two-point conversion to close down the margin back to two points again. After nine phases, Ward managed to score a try and extended their lead once more, while Harrison added another two points for an immaculate conversion. Ellie Kildunne then scored a breathtaking try after a French mistake to make a brilliant sprint to the line, dodging all French players in her way. Harrison scored the conversion. Konde then went down to make it a second try for her, and took the score up to 17-28. Meg Jones managed to score the final try of the game after the ball bounced off the post into her hands to take it down past the try line, while Zoe got England another conversion.
The Mastercard Player of the Match was Ellie Kildunne.
Score: 17-35 to England
The Ultimate Showdown
With Canada beating the reigning champions on Friday and England crushing France on Saturday, they now face each other for the Women’s Rugby World Championship 2025 Final at Twickenham. Who will take the title of “Champions” this World Cup? Could the Maple Leaves wow us all again and take home the trophy to Canada, or could the home heroes lift English Rugby Fans' spirits to new heights this year by conquering the field? All will be decided on the 27th of September at 4 pm (BST), but beforehand at 12:30 pm (BST), the bronze medals will be awarded to either New Zealand or France.
Article written by Alice Seager ©️Alice Seager 2025
