Maidenhead's Red Roses: Dow and Muir shine as England conquer the world

Maud Muir delivering a coaching session at Highfield Preparatory School, Maidenhead

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Two women with links to Maidenhead and the town’s rugby club lifted the Women’s World Cup with England on Saturday after the Red Roses rounded off a dominant World Cup with a 33-13 win over Canada at Twickenham.

England peaked for the tournament, and they were by far the best, and most consistent team in the competition.

In their starting lineup for the final were Maidenhead-based Abby Dow, whose blistering tries have been a feature of England’s play for many years now, and prop forward Maud Muir.

Muir - a former women’s and girls’ coach at Maidenhead RFC - was a key member of a forward unit that crushed the spirit of every team they came up against in the competition.

A record women’s rugby crowd of 81,885 watched on as the Red Roses dominated their opponents in the final. Having lost their previous two finals to New Zealand, surprisingly put out of the competition by Canada at the semi-final stage, England finally laid that ghost to rest and turned up when it mattered most.

Once again, they had too much power and ferocity for Canada in the forward pack as they extended their winning run to 33 matches - their last defeat coming against the Black Ferns of New Zealand in the last World Cup Final.

England conceded an early score to Canada winger Asia Hogan-Rochester and wavered a little in the second half after being reduced to 14 players for a 10-minute period, however, they dominated for the most part and ran in five tries to Canada’s two.

Ellie Kildunne scored a sensational try to get England on the board and hooker Amy Cokayne, number eight Alex Matthews and Abbie Ward touched down to put the hosts in the driving seat early in the second half.

Hogan-Rochester bagged her second score to give Canada hope, but Matthews’ second try from close range saw off that mini fightback and the Red Roses saw out time for a comfortable 33-13 win.

While not on the scoresheet in the final, Dow was again a major weapon for England throughout the tournament, scoring three tries.

In the Red Roses’ quarter final victory over Scotland, she scored her 50th try for England. She may not have grabbed the headlines like in previous tournaments, but her experience and strong running from the wing was once again evident as England finally lifted the trophy they’ve coveted for more than a decade.

Muir was also on the scoresheet in the competition, going over the whitewash as England crushed the USA 69-7 in their opening match. Her scrummaging and ball carrying strength were key components of England’s play for a forward line that dominated every side they faced.