Rule's place in the squad has been taken by 45-year-old fly-half Anna Richards, the most capped player in the history of the Black Ferns.

BBC: Women primed for Rugby World Cup kick-off in England

The Six Nations champions, who won a fourth Grand Slam in five years this year, will hope to reverse their 2006 final loss to the Black Ferns.

BBC: Women primed for Rugby World Cup kick-off in England

They beat the Black Ferns for the first time since 2001 when they met at Twickenham in November to raise the profile of the women's game in England.

BBC: Women primed for Rugby World Cup kick-off in England

And an All Black triumph would strike a blow for gender equality: in 2010 the Black Ferns, New Zealand's women's team, won their fourth successive Women's Rugby World Cup.

ECONOMIST: New Zealand��s hopes for the Rugby World Cup

But with home advantage and November's impressive victory at Twickenham, their first over the Black Ferns for eight years, hopes are high of reversing the result of the 2006 final.

BBC: England captain sacrifices all for World Cup glory bid

Sometimes when she parked at the center, crunching into the gravelled space between the kitchen and the high black garden wall, where the stones were mossy and ferns grew in the cracks, she was really all right for a moment.

NEWYORKER: She��s the One

Ideally I would like to plant deep beds of greenery clouds of box, ferns, a willow tree and maybe a magnolia, with a glossy black-painted metal bench somewhere.

WSJ: Readying the Garden to Be a Living Room