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What makes England's back three so good?
By Lucy Lomax
With the team news for the 2025 World Cup opener in, England’s back three of Ellie Kildunne, Jess Breach and Abby Dow will take to the field against the USA tomorrow evening in Sunderland.
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From a Red Roses point of view, they go into the tournament as strong favourites with depth and talent across the park, but their back three could be the real point of difference and the big reason teams fear playing the world number ones, especially with a forward platform able to dominate and give them front foot ball.
The threesome have long been considered a dangerous combination in the international game, especially when you throw a fit and firing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald in the mix.
If you want to see an example of England’s back three clicking to devastating effect, a try scored in the 2022 World Cup semi-final by Dow against Canada is all you need.
Moloney-MacDonald from inside her own try line sprints forward and cuts infield, racking up the missed tackles, she then swings a long pass out to Dow who backs her speed and sprints from inside her own half, outpacing the Canadian defence, with only full back Kildunne able to match her ferocity, running a supporting line.
This try dented Canadian spirits at a time of real momentum, and helped seal the win to put England into the World Cup final.
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Kat Merchant is someone who knows what it’s like to live life out on the wing. Her first World Cup for England was in 2010, which like the 2025 edition, was played in England.
Merchant has seen first-hand the growth of the crowds at the women’s pinnacle event from just over 13,000 at the Stoop in Twickenham for the 2010 final to a sell-out across the road, with organisers announcing that Allianz Stadium will be at its 82,000 capacity on Saturday 27th September.
Merchant, whose final game of rugby was winning the World Cup in 2014, joins the hype and believes England have a back three to be extremely envious of.
“The two for me that were never in doubt (making the World Cup squad) were Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne,” said the former England wing.
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“They are the starting two in the back three. I also really rate Claudia (Moloney-MacDonald). I think she is a really great all-round winger.
“Breach is off the back of a long injury and I don’t think we’ve seen her at her full form for England yet. We saw it at club for Sarries, but not yet for England.
“So I’d say that third spot on the wing is not necessarily cemented. I think my back three would including Moloney-MacDonald starting, when fit.”
However, Merchant is realistic that there is still room for improvement.
“To put a slight spin on it, during the Women’s Six Nations, England’s back three didn’t get tested very much defensively.
“And in that Grand Slam deciding match against France, I think they’d be realistic enough to admit that the defence out wide wasn’t good enough.
“And that is now something that other opposition are going to target. Canada and New Zealand, they’re going to try and get the ball wide.
“But England are smart. They’ll have gone away and done a lot of work. But defensively, that’s an area where I think they’ll be looking to improve based off that France game and France may have exposed a slight weakness where some might have believed they didn’t have any.”
The fact that the Red Roses don’t often get tested in internationals, could be a slight worry for England, say Merchant.
“It’s very hard internationally as a winger to practice tackling someone full pelt, and doing amazing hand offs when you don’t face that opposition every week.
“I think Dow is the best defensive back three player for England and she got handed off in that France game, and that’s because she’s just not practicing it, because she hasn’t had to deal with it. But England will have been playing against each other full pelt to counter that for sure.”
Despite potential defensive frailties Merchant is full of praise for England’s back line heading into an exciting few weeks.
“Kildunne is quicker than anyone gives her credit for. And your fullback isn’t normally as quick as your wings, but I think she’s just pure gas.
“And then because she’s hitting those lines from full back and people are kicking to her, she’s got room, and she just glides through. And she’s a very confident young player as well. So when she gets the ball, she believes she is going to score and that’s what back three players need.
“You don’t want to give a ball to a back three player who is umming and ahing about whether they can make a line break. You want someone that genuinely believes- ‘I don’t care who’s in front of me, I don’t care how close I am to that touch line. I’m going to score.’
“Dow is very, unique in how she plays. I think with her footwork, with her fend, with her strength, I genuinely think she’s an all round incredible, player.
“And then, Claudia, just a really good, strong finisher. And then Jess makes it look easy, and she has another gear, it looks like. So, that’s why their attacking prowess is just so high.”
The host nation will be hoping England can get up and running come Friday night in the North East to extend their winning streak to an incredible 28 matches. Merchant believes England can do it, but will need to be wary of certain aspects of the Eagles’ game.
“The USA are physical, and they’ve got quick players as well. In previous campaigns they’ve also been known for their back three because they’re very athletic, and they look to have a go and finish.
“So that’ll be a really good test for England’s back three in particular early on, if USA can get the ball out wide, then that could be a really good thing for England.”
Heading in to the Rugby World Cup, see where England’s back three players were ranked in RugbyPass’ Top 50 Women’s Players list. View the list here.
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