The Red Roses

I had to search quite hard to find any confirmation of this on the Internet.

The Women's Rugby page on the official England Rugby website doesn't even mention the word 'rose'; Wikipedia says that the red rose is their emblem (as it is for the men's team), but doesn't mention any nickname. The Grauniad has a page entitled England women's rugby union team, but doesn't mention the word 'rose'.

Eventually, on a website called Top End Sports, I found a page entitled Rugby Union National Team Names. At the bottom of the page are nicknames for eleven women's teams, including England: Red Roses.

I am still a little sceptical however, given that the same page claims that the nickname of the England men's team is 'the Red and Whites' - "from the red and white playing strip." For as long as I can remember, the England rugby union team (men and women) have played in all white; there may be some red trim, and of course there's the red rose emblem. But a red and white playing strip? Not really.