High expectations as Red Roses start World Cup

United States captain Kate Zackary (left) and England counterpart Zoe Aldcroft at a tournament welcome event in Sunderland

Women's Rugby World Cup: England v United States

Venue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Friday 22 August Kick-off: 19:30 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport website and app.

England expects. Actually, it's more than that. England presumes.

And with some justification.

England have won 57 of their past 58 games - a record that stretches around the world and back more than six years.

On the home front, they have won the past seven Six Nations titles.

World Rugby invented a new global event, WXV, to increase top-end competition. And England have won every edition of that as well.

The Red Roses have pretty much broken the world rankings system. In the 22 years since rankings were introduced, no team has come close to accumulating the 97.76 they currently hold.

Often they play matches knowing they cannot improve their total, no matter the margin of victory. Only resounding wins over their nearest rivals now return a few more decimals.

Their form has been so relentless, the dominance so singular, their winning streak so long, that many home fans are tuning in for the Rugby World Cup expecting a month-long coronation of their Test queens, culminating with victory in the final on 27 September.

Coach John Mitchell knows different.

He inherited a side that went into the last Rugby World Cup final with a record of 30 straight wins and similarly heavy expectations.

However, wing Lydia Thompson's first-half red card and the New Zealand Black Ferns' magic under the Eden Park lights conspired to spirit the trophy away.

The last time Mitchell himself led a Rugby World Cup campaign, his highly fancied All Blacks side lost in the 2003 men's semi-finals, with Australia's George Gregan crowing "four more years" as the game slipped away.

The Red Roses' own wait is now more than a decade. They have appeared in the past six World Cup finals, but their only success during that time was in 2014.

Mitchell has contemplated the possibility of the Red Roses' homecoming, against the odds, falling flat.

"I promised myself that whatever happens, happens," he said.

"If it doesn't happen, it is not going to define me.

"You don't need outcome to determine how much the girls have grown in the last two and a half years and how much this team is going to grow.

"It [winning the Rugby World Cup] is something that we have started and that we are very keen to do, but it is not the only driver for us.

"I think we have a greater driver than just winning. We just want to be the best version we can be.

"Should we be the most deserving come 27 September, we'll deserve it. But to put all your eggs in one basket - there is more to it than just winning.

"It is about getting it done but also about making sure you have a phenomenal experience doing it."

There are indeed side missions without silverware.

The connection between the Red Roses and their fans, captured in thousands of post-match selfies, is deep and true. Their reach extends to a demographic unmoved by their men's counterparts.

This tournament, with more than 330,000 tickets sold, more coverage than ever before and home advantage, can be transformational for the women's game generally but for Mitchell's team in particular.

Huge talents and massive characters will finally have a stage that fits.

When England play the United States in Sunderland in the tournament opener on Friday, they will draw more than 40,000 supporters. The attendance could surpass the Women's Rugby World Cup record, set at the 2022 final, of 42,579 people.

The final, set to sell out Twickenham's 82,000-seater Allianz Stadium, certainly will.

England should win comfortably at the Stadium of Light.

The United States side may contain social media phenomenon Ilona Maher, but, in other respects, they haven't kept pace with the rest of the world.

After winning the inaugural event in 1991, the United States were runners-up at the following two tournaments.

Now, they are ranked 10th in the world and have won only four of 15 Tests since the start of 2023.

Japan beat the United States for the first time in Los Angeles in April, before New Zealand ran in 13 tries in a 79-14 demolition a month later.

England have beaten them by 38 and 40 points in their past two meetings.

From a ship-building city, it should be a celebratory send-off for the Red Roses.

No-one in the England squad has more World Cup experience than Emily Scarratt.

The 35-year-old centre, lining up for her fifth campaign, is the only survivor from the last time the tournament was in England.

"A home World Cup is massive," she said earlier this month.

"I was part of the 2010 one. Times were very different then, but it was a small taste of what a home World Cup can be like."

Back then, the pool stages were all staged at Surrey Sports Park. The final was staged at The Stoop, Harlequins' home ground.

"At the time it was unbelievable," added Scarratt. "We had increased media attention, increased everything. The country got behind us and we had never seen crowds like it.

"I will never forget getting off the bus for the World Cup final in 2010 and hearing the crowd. It was probably the first time that we had a crowd that was big enough to hear.

"I remember the bus door opened and we all just looked around at each other and said 'this is actually mega'."

The crowd for that 13-10 defeat by New Zealand was 13,253, a record for a women's match at the time.

As Scarratt says: Fifteen years on, times are different.

Surrey Sports Park is now where Harlequins' women's side train, rather than where international tournaments are played.

The Stoop's main role on World Cup final day this time will be for car parking and hospitality as 82,000 people flood across the Chertsey Road to Twickenham.

When England step off the bus outside the Stadium of Light on Friday, they will hear the volume of love and expectation around them. They will get a taste long before the doors open.

"I don't think any of us will understand how supported we will be until we get going," said Scarratt.

The game has changed. Now it is up to England to change the World Cup's usual gut-punch ending.