England can look forward to an exciting future after beating perennial rivals New Zealand to win WXV1, according to captain Marlie Packer and interim head coach Louis Deacon.

Packer was also named as World Rugby Women's Player of the Year.

"The future is bright. There is still a long way to go but we are building on very strong foundations," said Deacon.

Ex-England international Deacon will now hand full control to incoming head coach John Mitchell, who has been with the team during the tournament in New Zealand after finishing his role as defence coach with the Japan men's side.

"I have been really proud to coach them, I have enjoyed and loved it," Deacon added. "It is so exciting how far this group can go."

England's WXV win came just under a year after they lost a Rugby World Cup final to the Black Ferns, but Packer insisted that her team-mates - many of whom featured in that 34-31 loss - only had winning WXV1 in mind.

"We didn't focus on that [last year] at all," said the Saracens flanker. "The target was to be hitting our best performance this week. We had personal bests in the gym and in speed to really start believing in what we were doing over the last 11 weeks.

"A couple of times behind the sticks today, there were players who were there last year and some of those emotions were starting to be felt, but we stuck to our process and what we are good at.

"Full credit to everyone for riding out that emotion, but it is about being present in the moment and enjoying that moment.

"Sometimes losing makes you a better player and a better person and you learn from it. Beating New Zealand in their own back yard, there is no better feeling, but you have to grow and hopefully that is what the squad will learn from tonight."

England's next assignment is defending their Six Nations title, starting in March, while the longer-term aim is to build towards a home Rugby World Cup in 2025.

That preparation could feature another game against New Zealand, with talks held between the two nations about a standalone international at Twickenham in 2024.

"We keep saying that as the Red Roses we want to keep being world-leading, so to play a standalone game at Twickenham against New Zealand would be unreal," England captain Packer added.

"We got a record crowd there for the Six Nations [against France in April], so what better way than to beat that at HQ?

"We have a lot of games until then, we will focus on the Six Nations but when that comes around, all the girls will be up for it."