England won the Women's Rugby World Cup on Saturday with a convincing 33-13 win over Canada at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium.
John Mitchell's side delivered their 33rd consecutive win -- a run that stretches back to the last Women's Rugby World Cup final three years ago -- and this game, in front of 81,885 fans, was their most important yet.
The Red Roses scored five tries, with Ellie Kildunne wonderous effort the highlight of the match. She scored a thrilling solo try in the ninth minute, and the magnificent England pack dominated the rest of the contest.
Four of England's five tries were supplied by the forwards, including two for No .8 Alex Matthews, and there was the familiar sight of their scrum and maul grinding the opposition into submission.
In defence, they were responsible for shutting down Canada at a key stage in the second half when the tournament's form team were taking advantage of a yellow card for Hannah Botterman to stage a fightback.
It was as England were defending their line at 26-13 ahead, with Asia Hogan-Rochester having run in her second try for the Canadians, that fears of another World Cup failure were at their strongest.
The Red Roses had reached the last six finals yet won only once, but on this occasion they held their nerve with their forwards facing down the uprising when it was at its fiercest.
How England would deal with their World Cup final gremlins was the great unknown heading to Twickenham, but it quickly became clear that it was Canada who were struggling with the occasion and overall the underdogs were disappointing.
Apart from scoring a brilliantly worked try through Hogan-Rochester, they had little to celebrate from a one-sided first half littered with errors and indiscipline.
England lost a line-out on their own throw to allow Hogan-Rochester to score, but that was the only mistake from their set piece, which directly led to scores for forwards Amy Cokayne and Matthews.
It was the early touch down by Kildunne that truly lit up the first half, however, as she burst through Canada's defence with a show of strength before using her footwork and pace to race over.
It was a try scored when there appeared nothing on for England, although the trail of red shirts left in her wake was also the result of soft tackling.
A Sophie de Goede penalty was all Canada could muster from a sustained attack on the Red Roses line and they looked dazed upon conceding another maul try, although this one was ruled out for offside.
England's assault continued into the second half with prop Botterman continuing to cause havoc up front, and Abbie Ward was the next over after a series of forward drives.
- Meg Jones' story: From grief to World Cup winner
Botterman was shown a yellow card for a tip tackle on Karen Paquin and Canada exploited the advantage almost immediately by sending Hogan-Rochester over for her second.
The Red Roses' defence faced enormous pressure but the underdogs just could not make the decisive run or pass, and it was the scrum that came to the hosts' rescue on successive occasions.
Canada had the momentum but England finally escaped their half and showed their class by ending waves of forward-led attacks with a second try for Matthews, bringing the fightback to a halt and enabling them to lift the World Cup for the third time in the nation's history.
Information from PA contributed to this report.