Red Roses head coach John Mitchell praised his side’s willingness to take risks after they extended their winning run to 19 matches with a 49-31 victory over New Zealand in WXV 1.

Jess Breach led the way with a hat-trick as England’s back three ran riot in British Columbia, Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne chipping in with two apiece.

Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison also crossed as the Red Roses ran in nine tries in all, setting themselves up for a winner-takes-all clash with hosts Canada, who are also unbeaten, next weekend.

Mitchell has been intent on evolving his side’s attack since his arrival and believes they are heading in the right direction, with a home World Cup looming ever closer on the horizon.

"We are no longer just a forward pack or a backline, we leaked a few tries as well, but that wasn't through a lack of intent and we will just look to score more if people score against us," Mitchell said.

"It is up to the girls to back themselves to have a crack, there are times it won't come off. I like how the whole team took responsibility, especially the back three with their last pass."

"When the girls are on it, they are on it. They are a very special group and for large parts of that game they were on it.

"We have a responsibility and standard around our last pass, so it was really good to see that executed."

England had beaten the Black Ferns 24-12 just three weeks ago at the Allianz Stadium but fell behind early in their latest encounter, No.8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker crashing over.

It took Mitchell’s side just three minutes to respond, Dow crossing in the corner before Breach opened her account to put the Red Roses in front.

The free-flowing approach continued as Kildunne got in on the act, crossing twice before the interval, and Breach completed her treble after the break as England kept the Black Ferns at arm’s length.

Jet-heeled wing Breach, 26, is among the chief beneficiaries of England’s desire to be bolder with ball in hand and paid tribute to her teammates following her player of the match display.

“To score three tries against this tough New Zealand team is credit to the team around me, putting me into space, giving me those one-on-ones to finish,” she said.

“We just need to front up physically, we need to get our chop tackles in more and that’s what we’ll be working on going into next week.

“It will be a fun game, they are a physical team and really fast. It will be a quick turnaround so we will have to recover hard, hopefully there will be a big crowd as they are the home team so we will just have some fun.”