England favourites on home soil as women’s rugby seeks to shine - New Zealand, Canada and France are the Red Roses’ leading rivals for glory.

The Red Roses, ranked No 1 in the world by a wide margin, have not lost a World Cup pool match in the history of the women’s tournament which began in 1991. A 13-13 draw against Canada in 2014 is the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record, and that year they went on to lift the trophy.