England will rely on the home support of a capacity crowd for their Women’s Rugby World Cup final — but the tournament hosts will be using the away dressing room for Saturday’s decider.
A new record attendance of about 82,000 is expected for perhaps the biggest game in women’s rugby history as the Red Roses, on a 32-match unbeaten streak, take on Canada rugby, the tournament’s form side, at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
It is Canada, though, who will enjoy the comforts of the home dressing room having won a coin toss last weekend following the two semi-finals.
John Mitchell’s side are thus designated as “Team B”, and will therefore occupy the away changing room for the game at the home of English rugby.
They will, at least, be wearing white, with Canada opting to sport their traditional red having worn their white change strip against New Zealand in the last-four clash last Friday.
Both dressing rooms are understood to be extremely high quality at Allianz Stadium, so it is highly unlikely to have much impact on England’s preparations for the decider. The Red Roses have played four standalone matches at the ground in the last two years, with a record crowd of 58,498 attending the match against France in the 2023 Women’s Six Nations.
Both England and Canada have worn headphones or blasted loud noise at training this week to prepare for the anticipated atmosphere. The final will be preceded by the bronze medal match between New Zealand and France.
Insurance giants Allianz last year took the naming rights to the ground in a lucrative sponsorship deal for England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU), and their branding will remain in place this weekend despite sponsors’ names usually being omitted from venue titles during tournaments.
