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'We know we get hunted... we want to turn it around and say we’re hunting them'

Jess Breach of England applauds the fans following the team's victory in the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Pool A match between England and Samoa at Franklin's Gardens on August 30, 2025 in Northampton, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
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Jess Breach says England are determined to show they are “predator” rather than “prey” as she bids to stretch her extraordinary winning record to 50 international matches.

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Saracens wing Breach, who scored a hat-trick of tries in last weekend’s 92-3 demolition of Samoa, will bring up a half-century of caps in Saturday’s World Cup clash with Australia in Brighton.

Remarkably, the 27-year-old has never suffered defeat at Test level, winning all 49 of her previous outings, beginning with a stunning six-try debut against Canada in 2017.

The Red Roses will secure top spot in Pool A by avoiding defeat to the Wallaroos and are targeting another ruthless display to underline their status as tournament favourites.

“We know we get hunted by every team – every team wants to beat us, so we want to turn it around and say we’re hunting them,” said Breach.

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“We don’t want to be people’s prey, we want to be the predator, and go at them and show them what we can do.”

England, who began the competition by beating the United States 69-7 and are already assured a quarter-final place, have the chance to equal their record unbeaten run with a 30th successive victory.

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That streak dates back to the 2021 World Cup final defeat to New Zealand when Breach was an unused squad member.

“Obviously every time you put on an England shirt, you want to win a game, so I’ve been fortunate enough to have potentially 50 caps that are winning,” she said of her proud individual record.

“I was involved when we lost the final, you still have that heartbreak, you know what that feels like.

“But yeah it’s an incredible achievement to go 50, hopefully 50 caps, no loss.”

Breach is also closing in on Sue Day’s record of 62 tries for England after increasing her tally to 52 with last weekend’s treble in Northampton.

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A milestone outing against Australia at the Amex Stadium promises to be even more special given she hails from Sussex and spent time at Brighton Rugby Club as a junior.

“It’s an honour to play 50 times for your country and to be able to do it in my home county is amazing,” said Breach, who was born in Chichester.

“It’s pretty awesome. After the Six Nations, I did some small calculations and worked out I could potentially get it at Brighton. For the stars to align is obviously phenomenal.

“I just want to go out there and have fun and hopefully we can get the win.”

Head coach John Mitchell, who has made 12 changes to his starting XV, said: “Jess has got a unique way of playing the game. She has got raw speed, she only needs a small amount of space and she will burn you.

“She has got those qualities but the things you don’t see is she brings a lot of people together within the group as well.

“She is fun to have within the group, so she has a really good balance between the on and the off (field) and that is what makes her special.”

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NoLongerARuck 7 minutes ago
Rugby's Greatest Rivalry deep dive - what has happened to the All Blacks’ scrum?

Alot of people have talked about how the AB's are making progress and getting closer to the Boks. Its also important to ask where the net gain has been. In 4 games under Razor the AB's attack failed dismally and struggled to score tries. The Boks outscored them comprehensively. Even so the All Blacks led for long periods in Joburg and Cape Town in 24. They lost each game by one score. They led all the way in Auckland and led for a quarter of the match in Wellington. Razors team always lost control in the final quarter of matches against the boks where the Boks bench completely overpowered them.

Under Rennie the AB's have scored plenty of tries, more than the Boks, they have rediscovered their attacking threat but they have regressed in other areas. Their scrum has totally capitulated, their lineout has been hammered, they are turning the ball over more at break down and in the tackle. They are making mistakes within their attacking template that has cost them and presented the Boks opportunities and so their defence has suffered with the Boks making hay in the last 3 games outscoring them in terms of tries and pts during that period. They have conceded 2 and 3 score leads in the last 3 matches heading into the final quarter. At Cape Town it was 16 points, Soweto 12 pts and in the US 15 pts. The Boks established control of Rennies team earlier and led for longer with AB's forced to chase games. They won the second half in Ellis Park comprehensively and the final quarters in the next 2 matches matches but little else illustrating the lack of control for the AB's.



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