England hot favourites at record-breaking women's Rugby World Cup

AUCKLAND - Confident England are red-hot favourites but holders and hosts New Zealand will have a point to prove when the women's Rugby World Cup starts on Saturday in record-breaking fashion.

The tournament kicks off with a mouthwatering triple bill, all at Auckland's Eden Park, when South Africa play France, Fiji take on England and New Zealand host Australia.

More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the opening day, a record attendance for the women's Rugby World Cup, eclipsing the 20,000 who saw the 2014 final in Paris.

New Zealand organisers hope it could even be a sell-out 47,000 crowd, another landmark for a competition which began in low-key fashion in 1991 and saw just a few thousand fans for that final.

Two-time world champions England are on a 25-match winning streak and have not lost since 2019, when they were beaten by New Zealand's Black Ferns.

The Red Roses won a fourth straight women's Six Nations title earlier this year and confidence is sky-high after demolishing neighbours Wales 73-7 in a warm-up game.

"Yeah, we've got to win it," replied England head coach Simon Middleton, asked if anything other than victory in the final on November 12 would be a failure.

"This is the best-prepared squad and the best strength in depth we've ever had."

But Middleton knows the favourites' tag is no guarantee of success, especially as defending champions New Zealand have home advantage and passionate supporters behind them.

The Black Ferns are the most successful team in the history of the competition, winning it five times, but they lost twice to both England and France on last year's European tour.