Harrison grabs the glory for England

■By BEN JAYCOCK

What a finish: England celebrate their winning try

MEG Jones believes back-to-back bruising battles against the world’s best have made England stronger after the Red Roses edged New Zealand in a thriller.

England were pushed to the limit by the Black Ferns, with Zoe Harrison scoring a dramatic match winner to seal a 26-19 victory at Allianz

Stadium, a week after being held by Canada. But captain Jones believes being repeatedly taken into uncomfortable territory is providing invaluable preparation as England gear up for two matches in Canada next month.

“It’s been amazing,” she said. “You always want to find out exactly where you are, and the best way of doing that is by playing against the top teams. Those matches test our game, but they also test our character.

“Australia were ahead at half-time, Canada pushed us to a draw last week and then today went right to the wire again. Those experiences will make us stronger going into every game.

“Ultimately, it was about trusting the girls around you. You’ve got to stand back, trust each other and, if we go, we go together. There was maybe a little bit of luck at the end, but you make your own luck. We kept putting pressure on them, we were relentless and I’m incredibly proud of the way we showed up.”

Head coach John Mitchell was equally delighted to see England emerge from another contest which went down to the wire. “You’ve got two great rivals, New Zealand have been unbeaten all year, and we’re evolving as well,” he said.

“It was a fantastic Test match and ultimately, it was right in the balance. We had a couple of

Harrison grabs the glory for England

moments where we could have finished them off and we didn’t, but that’s part of the learning cycle we’re in now.

“The Red Roses don’t often get to play against Canada and New Zealand, the best sides in the world, so it’s important for us. We’re right there with them and we need to learn how to win tight Test matches.”

Mitchell was particularly pleased with England’s response after New Zealand enjoyed the better of the game during the opening period, leading 12-7 at half time.

“We just kept giving them possession,” Mitchell said. “So, the message at half-time was that the game was going to turn. We were going to get possession, so when we did, we had to attack it.

“We wanted to take the handbrake off. You could see the girls really trying to find space, even from deep, while still being tenacious without the ball.”