World Cup cycles are always planned around it being an England-New Zealand final. When that finally arrived in 2010 and 2017, we felt prepared and ready. The 2014 final was a spanner in the works as the Black Ferns lost to Ireland and didn’t make the semi-finals. For me, the final was all about being an incredible opportunity, and you had to focus on not pulling away from your usual preparation, as if it’s for any other game. It’s about the match, not the occasion.
New Zealand have beaten England in four World Cup finals, which naturally has some effect on your psyche. But when you have played the Black Ferns several times, you don’t hang on to the losses. And some of these England
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