DEFENCE is the best form of attack for Katy McLean and the Team GB women’s side who now stand one win away from an historic medal at Rio 2016.

World Cup winner McLean, who is from South Shields, and her teammates are the first Brits to compete in Olympic rugby for over 100 years and they have cruised through their opening four clashes of the Games to set up a semi-final against New Zealand.

The Northern Echo: England's Women's Captain Katy McLean

WORLD CUP WINNER: Katy McLean 

On Sunday Canada and Fiji were impressively put to the sword – skipper Emily Scarratt bagging a double in the former before Abbie Brown turned on the style in the latter.

But it is defence that is doing the damage for Team GB – they have only shipped one try in their first four games and now stand one win away from the gold medal match.

And head coach Simon Middleton is hoping for more of the same against the mighty All Blacks on Monday in their semi-final that gets underway at 7PM UK time.

“Our stingy defence is massive. Whether it’s seven or 15s, it’s defence that wins you games,” he said.  “We’ve been absolutely outstanding over the last couple of days and we were again today against a side that are so difficult to defend against.

 “Fiji are probably the most difficult side to defend against because they’re so unpredictable. But the best way to defend is to keep the ball, so we did that quite well.

“I’m really proud of the team. They showed great composure under the utmost pressure, and great execution to realise their potential on the biggest stage."

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