London (AFP) - England coach John Mitchell has named an unchanged team from their final warm-up game for the Women’s Rugby World Cup opener against the United States in Sunderland on Friday.

The starting 15 overwhelmed France 40-6 in the second of England’s two warm-up fixtures earlier this month.

Zoe Aldcroft continues to captain the team from blindside flanker, with No 8 Alex Matthews and openside Sadia Kabeya alongside her in the back row and Abbie Ward and Morwenna Talling the starting locks.

The pack is completed by a powerful front row of Hannah Botterman, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir.

Behind the scrum, half-backs Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison will look to dictate play, with Meg Jones and Tatyana Heard in the centres.

Scrum-half Hunt will be making her first World Cup appearance since 2017 after being left out of the England squad at the last tournament.

Jess Breach and Abby Dow line-up on the wings, with full-back Ellie Kildunne, the reigning women’s World Rugby player of the year, looking to add to an exceptional tally of 41 tries in 53 Tests a member of a dynamic back three.

Tournament debutants Kelsey Clifford, Maddie Feaunati and Emma Sing are named as replacements, with veteran Emily Scarratt poised to win her 119th cap off the bench.

But there is no place in the matchday 23 for former captain Marlie Packer.

- ‘Embrace the occasion’ -

Sunderland is best known as a football rather than rugby hotbed, with the Stadium of Light, the venue for Friday’s match, home to the northeast city’s Premier League team.

But with officials keen to showcase the national appeal of the Red Roses, their pool matches are being spread round England rather than just taken to traditional rugby heartlands.

And with 40,000 tickets sold, Friday’s fixture will be played in front of a record crowd for an opening game of a Women’s Rugby World Cup.

“We have been building nicely into the tournament and now we’re excited to get our campaign under way,” Mitchell said as he announced his team on Wednesday.

“Sunderland have been a great host city thus far and we know it’ll be a record crowd for a Women’s Rugby World Cup opening match which shows the appetite for rugby in this region and for the competition ahead.”

The New Zealander added: “We want to embrace the occasion whilst understanding we have to remain where our feet are and earn the right to progress through the pool stage.”

Host nation England head into the event as favourites, having lost only once in their past 58 matches – a defeat by New Zealand in the Covid-delayed 2022 World Cup final.

In spite of winning six successive Six Nations Grand Slams, however, England have also lost five of the last six World Cup finals to New Zealand.

The United States have also named their team for the match, with four World Cup debutants in the starting side, including social media star Ilona Maher, and a possible seven others off the bench.

Back-row forward Kate Zachary, who plays for London club Ealing, captains the 10th-ranked Eagles at her third World Cup.

“Our focus for the first match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is very much on ourselves and executing our game plan to put pressure on England,” said US coach Sione Fukofuka.

Pool A also features Australia and Samoa, who meet on Saturday, with the top two in each of the four groups going through to the quarter-finals.

Teams (15-1)

England: Ellie Kildunne; Abby Dow, Megan Jones, Tatyana Heard, Jess Breach; Zoe Harrison, Natasha Hunt; Alex Matthews, Sadia Kabeya, Zoe Aldcroft (capt); Abbie Ward, Morwenna Talling; Maud Muir, Amy Cokayne, Hannah Botterman

Replacements: Lark Atkin-Davies, Kelsey Clifford, Sarah Bern, Rosie Galligan, Maddie Feaunati, Lucy Packer, Emily Scarratt, Emma Sing

Coach: John Mitchell (NZL)

United States: Lotte Sharp; Emily Heinrich, Ilona Maher, Alev Kelter, Bulou Mataitoga; McKenzie Hawkins, Olivia Ortiz; Rachel Johnson, Georgie Perris-Redding, Kate Zachary (capt); Erica Jarrell-Searcy, Tahlia Brody; Keia Mae Sagapolu Sanele, Kathryn Treder, Hope Rogers

Replacements: Paige Stathopoulos, Alivia Leatherman, Charil Jacoby, Rachel Ehrecke, Freda Tafuna, Cassidy Bargell, Kristin Bitter, Sariah Ibarra

Coach: Sione Fukofuka (AUS)