Simon Middleton played down the intimidation of facing New Zealand in front of a sell-out Eden Park crowd after he made three changes to England’s starting XV for the World Cup final. Holly Aitchison becomes the team’s third inside centre of the tournament, her only previous start having come in the No 13 jersey.
Aitchison was in the centres for four matches of this year’s Six Nations but has not been in the first-choice side at this tournament. Helena Rowland started the World Cup at No 12 before Tatyana Heard was player of the match against South Africa and kept the jersey for the quarter and semi-finals, Rowland moving to full back.
One of Aitchison’s Six Nations starts came in Bayonne against France, a match
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