Five named in World Cup final squad
It all comes down to eighty minutes at Eden Park, as the Red Roses look to reclaim the title, they last won in 2014.
The headline news is the inclusion of Saracens' Holly Aitchison at inside centre in place of Tatyana Heard.
Aitchison is joined in the starting XV by club teammates Zoe Harrison and Leanne Infante and fly-half and scrum-half respectively, whilst Marlie Packer continues at openside flanker.
Packer is England's top try scorer at the world cup, with five to her name so far, including a hattrick in the quarter-final victory over Australia.
On the bench, Saracens' Poppy Cleall will look to make the same sort of impact she did last weekend against Canada, with Middleton optinog for a 6-2 split amongst his replacements.
The squad will be captained by Sarah Hunter, with Lydia Thompson coming into the starting XV in place of the injured Helena Rowland.
Saracens prop Hannah Botterman also misses out on the match, having sustained an injury before last weekend's semi-final.
Speaking ahead of the match, Head Coach Simon Middleton, admitted that his overwhelming emotion was pride.
“I could not be any prouder of the squad, how we have conducted ourselves and how we have performed. We set ourselves an objective to leave this country a better squad than when we arrived and regardless of what happens on Saturday, we will do that. The way the squad and staff have come together both on and off the field has been fantastic to be a part of and will be a huge part of this team’s legacy after the World Cup."
This could potentially be the last match in an England shirt for a large number of the group, with Middleton praising the strength of character within his side, as they prepare to take on the World Champion Black Ferns in front of a sell-out home crowd.
“You are always striving to create something special in team sport and we have done that with this group of Red Roses. We know in our heart of hearts that this will more than likely be the last time this group all come together, but what they have created and achieved will live on for a long time. There can be no bigger challenge in sport than to play the world champions in their own backyard in front of a sell-out crowd - 99.9% of which will be forming part of the opposition. Great teams don’t fear those challenges, they embrace them, and meet them head on, that’s what we intend to do.”
