Head coach John Mitchell believes his England side are ready to thrive in front of a record crowd of 82,500 for women’s rugby.

“I don’t think you’ve ever seen the best of England. There’s definitely more in this team – we always ask more of ourselves,” he said.

“We probably don’t even know what that ceiling is – it’s probably wrong of us to set a limit. These girls are driven, they want to get better.

“This tournament throws curve balls and you have to deal with a lot of adversity to get to this point and Saturday will be no different.

“You’ve got one and two in the world in the final, which is so good for the game. It will require an 80-minute performance, which we will have to earn.

“We’re never going to be perfect, but to win this tournament, you don’t have to be perfect.

“There’s so much talent, ultimately it would be nice for this team to be able to fulfil their potential and be rewarded for that.”

Captain Zoe Aldcroft added: “We are so excited to get out there. We have been working on this for three years and it is our time now, we really feel that.

“We’re so excited to experience it. It’s something we’ve never experienced but wanted for so long.

“The momentum and the impact that we have had on fans throughout the tournament, it’s going to be so exciting to see where we have pushed women’s rugby to and exciting for this new era of women’s rugby on Saturday.

“Honestly, it gives you goosebumps. It’s like the 16th person on the pitch and it really pulls you forward.”

England centre Meg Jones, who has been nominated for World Rugby women’s 15s player of the year, said the team were driven to become part of rugby history.

“We’ve had to fight for every second of game time in this tournament. We’ve earned the right to be here,” she added.

“To run out at Allianz Stadium, knowing the stories we all carry, the communities we represent, and the history we’re creating – that’s massive. That’s what makes this week so powerful.”