England's Red Roses secured a dramatic 26-19 victory against New Zealand's Black Ferns today, with fly-half Zoe Harrison scoring the winning try after the clock had expired. The decisive moment came when New Zealand, with scores level, attempted to run the ball from their own 22, inadvertently gifting possession to England.
The hard-fought contest saw the Red Roses make nearly 300 tackles to survive a strong challenge from the Black Ferns. New Zealand had demonstrated improved kicking variety and quality in the first half, with Amy du Plessis and Hannah King scoring tries.
Jess Breach and Ellie Kildunne also contributed to England's scoring. New Zealand's prop Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu was sin-binned following an accidental head-on-head collision with Marlie Packer, creating space for Breach to score. Braxton Sorensen-McGee converted a try for New Zealand, levelling the scores before Harrison's late intervention.