England holds off New Zealand 24-12 in women’s rugby

LONDON (AP) - Top-ranked England downed world champion New Zealand 24-12 at Twickenham on Saturday, a year out from the next Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Tries by flanker Marlie Packer, winger Abby Dow, fullback Ellie Kildunne and scrumhalf Natasha Hunt staked England to 24-0. The Black Ferns rallied with a pair of tries by wing Katelyn Vaha’akolo, shaking off rust from being inactive since thrashing Australia in July.

England has won three of four from New Zealand since 2021. The one exception was the 2022 World Cup final won by the Black Ferns in Auckland. England has since won 17 straight tests.

Both teams were also warming up for the WXV1 in Vancouver in two weeks.

Coming off a 38-19 win over France last weekend, England took the lead in the 17th minute against the run of play. Prop Sarah Bern’s burst helped to set up the driving maul that ended with Packer touching down.

The Black Ferns showed greater energy in attack but Packer's try ignited the hosts, who sent Dow racing over. The try was made possible by Tatyana Heard's bullet pass to Dow.

Kildunne was the next over the whitewash after finishing England's patient buildup with a step inside, leaving New Zealand in urgent need of a rousing halftime team talk to prevent a heavy defeat in front of a 41,500-strong crowd.

Instead, a fourth try was leaked to Hunt just two minutes after the interval, even though England was down to 14 players because of Zoe Aldcroft’s yellow card.

The Black Ferns hustle a try through Vaha’akolo in the 52nd and, in further evidence the intensity was draining from England’s game, she added her second heading into the final quarter. But the comeback stopped there.