England Women to face New Zealand twice as part of autumn schedule

England will play New Zealand twice this autumn followed by Tests against the United States and Canada, with dates yet to be confirmed; Simon Middleton: "This series provides the perfect opportunity for individuals to display their World Cup credentials."

Image: England will face the Black Ferns in a double-header

England Women will face New Zealand twice this autumn as part of their preparation for the rescheduled 2022 Rugby World Cup.

Simon Middleton's team will take on the Black Ferns on the final weekend of October (29-31) and then again at the start of November (5-7).

The Red Roses, who are ranked No 1 in the world, will round off the autumn with Tests against Canada (November 12-14) and USA (November 19-21).

Match dates, kick-off times and venues are still to be confirmed.

The quartet of matches will be England's first meetings with all three teams since the 2019 Super Series.

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Middleton said: "Any series of games where you get to pit yourselves against the top teams in the world is going to be great.

"We haven't played any of these teams since the Super Series in 2019 and I thought the standard of rugby and the closeness of the games in that competition showed just how hugely competitive this series is likely to be.

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"No team won all four games in that Super Series so to now be able to play against three of the top six ranked teams in the world is something to look forward to and a great opportunity.

"We haven't played New Zealand in back-to-back matches since 2013. These games are always really intriguing, you have to react to what happened in the first, there's a little bit of countering what one team does, it's a bit of a chess game so that'll be brilliant.

"It goes without saying that this series provides the perfect opportunity for individuals to display their World Cup credentials and stake an early claim for a place in what will be the most competitive squad selection we will have made since the 2017 World Cup."

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