Red Roses must relish unfamiliar pressure in quest for World Cup glory | Andy Bull

<p>England’s final group match put the hosts in the rare position of a close encounter – but they passed the test in the end</p><p>You can measure a good team by how many they’ve won, or you can measure them by how many they might have lost but didn’t. The Red Roses are well ahead on the first count, they’re on a 30-match winning streak now, and have suffered just the one, solitary, defeat in the last six years.</p><p>But it’s less clear what their other tally is. Their one-point <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/26/england-hold-on-to-win-womens-six-nations-with-one-point-win-over-france">victory over France</a> in the final match of this year’s Six Nations was the only time they’ve had to confront the possibility of losing in the last few months, and even in that match they led from start to finish.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/06/england-australia-womens-rugby-world-cup-analysis">Continue reading...</a>