Yapp on course for semis
Shropshire's Joe Yapp could hardly contain her delight after England's women reached the semi-final of the IRB Rugby World Cup with a fine 27-8 success over France in their final group game at Edmonton.
Victory nows sees England meet host nation Canada in next Tuesday's showdown, and skipper Yapp - who had a hand in a couple of the tries - admits the performance has put her side in confident mood.
"We are absolutely delighted to have beaten France and to do it twice in a year is a great feeling," she said.
"France are a difficult side to play against but we went out there and played a great game and every player in our 22 squad made a real impact on the game.
"We have now achieved our aim of winning all our pool games and that gives us our place in the semi-finals."
Yapp, whose family are from Ludlow, admits her side will now face a big test from Canada.
"Playing Canada will be another tough match, especially because they are the host nation," she said.
"They will have the home crowd on their side, but we are lucky enough to have several England supporters out here in Canada, who I know will be vocal enough to help us along our way."
Henley's Danielle Waterman and Wasps' Sue Day both grabbed a brace of tries while Karen Andrew kicked two penalties and a conversion.
