Harrison's intercept try seals England's 26-19 win over New Zealand seconds after missed penalty

Zoe Harrison rescued England with one of the most dramatic finishes of the WXV Global Series, scoring an intercept try on the final play to give the Red Roses a 26-19 victory over the Black Ferns at Allianz Stadium in West London. The fly-half had missed a penalty from 40 metres moments earlier before immediately redeeming herself to extend England’s winning streak to 41 games.

With New Zealand threatening to level the match, Harrison read Amy du Plessis’ pass out wide to Braxton Sorensen-McGee, stepped into the line, and sprinted clear to send 59,871 supporters into pandemonium. She then composed herself to slot the conversion.

“Obviously the kick didn’t go the way I wanted it to. I felt I had to make up for it somehow,” Harrison said. “That last bit was a bit shit or bust. They had an overlap and I had to stop it somehow, so I just thought I had to get in their eyeline and grab the ball — and scored a try.”

The result carried an echo of the previous week, when England and New Zealand had played out a 26-26 draw. On that occasion, the Red Roses never looked to the posts; this time Harrison did, missed, and then found a more spectacular route to victory.

Centre Meg Jones paid tribute to her teammate’s composure. “I just thought ‘fair play to Zoe’,” Jones said. “I said you create your own luck and that was that moment. New Zealand clearly wanted to play and put on a spectacle, which is amazing. We were able to capitalise because we were putting so much pressure on them in defence.”

England’s defensive structure has been a talking point throughout the series following the arrival of coaching consultant Shaun Edwards. Head coach John Mitchell credited the defence as the decisive factor in the win, and Jones suggested Edwards’ influence is already being felt.

“He doesn’t say many words but you listen when he does,” Jones said. “His approach was for us to put as much pressure as possible on the Black Ferns, to make them force their play. I feel like we did that really well.”

England have now navigated three stern WXV Global Series tests, and while the results have been closer than their winning streak might suggest, Harrison’s moment of individual brilliance ensured the Red Roses returned to winning ways. They will face Canada and the USA Women’s Eagles in two further Test matches next month to conclude the 2026 series.