England coach John Mitchell insisted his tournament favorites had only “just got started” after launching the Women’s Rugby World Cup with a 69-7 hammering of the US on Friday.
Host nation England, the world’s top-ranked side, ran in 11 tries — with seven in the second half alone — to the delight of a World Cup record crowd of 42,723 at Premier League football club Sunderland’s Stadium of Light as they made it 28 wins in a row.
Ellie Kildunne, the reigning world player of the year, Jess Breach and replacement Lark Atkin-Davies all scored two tries as the 10th-ranked Eagles wilted under a sustained barrage of power in the forwards and pace out wide after holding their own early on.
Photo: AFP
England, who have lost five of the past six finals to New Zealand, are under pressure to win the World Cup for the first time since 2014, with Kiwi boss Mitchell — a former coach of the men’s All Blacks — brought in to help them take the last step.
“Firstly, we’re the Red Roses,” Mitchell told a post-match press conference. “Even before my time, we have set outstanding standards. The girls are extremely driven. They don’t like to be beaten. Like anyone, they don’t like to fail.”
Mitchell, whose side continue their Pool A campaign against Samoa, added: “We’re hunted and we love being hunted. Every team is going to rise physically and mentally 10 or 15 percent, we expect that, but we’re also going to grow as well. We’ve only just got started and there’s a lot of great depth in us.”
Kildunne, only recently returned from a leg injury, was especially impressive, although the full-back benefitted from the work done by a scrum, which Mitchell said “buried” the US.
“It’s good to see Ellie back on the field, doing what she loves doing,” said Mitchell. “She is very intuitive and her skill set was very good tonight.”
“That’s an individual, but then you’ve got to go and look at some of the effort areas by other players and also the scrum was outstanding tonight,” he added.
US captain Kate Zackary insisted all was not lost for the Eagles, who next face Australia.
“There’s still two more games, it’s pool play and we can’t go into a dark space,” she said. “It’s only day one of the tournament.”
The Eagles were only 14-7 behind after 26 minutes following Erica Jarrell-Searcy’s excellent converted try, with Zackary adding: “For us it’s about remembering the small wins. Erica again had that breakaway try.”
The match swung decisively England’s way barely a minute later when Eagles inside center Alev Kelter was yellow-carded, with the Red Roses scoring two converted tries in her absence. “Unfortunately discipline is something we want to keep working on,” US coach Sione Fukofuka said. “It gives England opportunities and relieves the pressure and that’s when it gets us, which was tough for the players out there.”
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