England Women kick off WRWC with 65-3 win against Samoa

Aug 2 • General News, International, Rugby World Cup • 2590 Views • Comments Off on England Women kick off WRWC with 65-3 win against Samoa

Pic: RFU – England Women celebrate their win

England Women 65-3 Samoa

ENGLAND Women kicked off their Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign with a comprehensive ten-try, 65-3 win against Samoa in Marcoussis.

Two tries for Kat Merchant, Lydia Thompson, Natasha Hunt and Kay Wilson and one apiece for La Toya Mason and Emily Scarratt set England on the way to victory while Scarratt also added 15 points with the boot.

After a cagey opening 10 minutes the game turned when Samoa full back Soteria Pulumu was red carded after a bad tip-tackle on England No. 9 Hunt. Scarratt added the resulting penalty for England’s first points of the tournament.

England’s first try came from the pacy Merchant who showed some quick feet before diving over the line.

And she soon had her second – her 43rd for England – going over in the 24th minute for 15-0 after Scarratt’s conversion.

Thompson showed great pace for England’s third, racing in from more than 60 metres and Scarratt added the extras to make it 22-0.

Worcester wing Thompson had her second try after 35 minutes and England had their fifth try on the whistle – Hunt spotting a gap and backing her own pace to score to make it 34-0.

Samoa gave as good as they got in the opening exchanges of the second 40, but a piece of magic from Hunt, who cleverly spotted a gap in the tiring Samoa defence, broke the deadlock before replacement Wilson scored minutes later to make it 46-0.

Replacement scrum half Mason spotted space on the Samoan try line for England’s eighth before Maggie Alphonsi found Scarratt who raced in for her first try.

At 60-0 up, Samoa got their first points on the board with a penalty from Bella Milo, but Wilson added her second at the death to bring the scoring to a close and to give England their first win.

Head Coach Gary Street said: “There was a lots of really good stuff from us out there, we knew that it was going to be a physical game – there were some big hits, but we weathered the storm early on and exploited the space that came our way, particularly after the red card.

“We didn’t really change anything after the red – we knew that if we stuck to our plan, and if we were patient then the opportunities would come. We’ll take a look at the game before switching focus to Spain. We have 26 players in our squad and a game in four days; it’s a quick turnaround, but we have faith in each player we have out here. We’re just pleased to get the tournament underway with a win, it’s the first of five, and we’re looking forward to the next one.”

Sarah Hunter said: “We’ve been itching to get out onto the pitch and we’re pleased to get the campaign underway with a good performance – we wanted to play with width and tempo and we definitely did that at times. Samoa put the pressure on us, they were big and physical and played with real heart, but we’ll review the game and look to improve before we play Spain.”

England Women
15 Danielle Waterman (Bristol), 14 Katherine Merchant (Worcester), 13 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield), 12 Rachael Burford ( Thurrock), 11 Lydia Thompson (Worcester), 10 Katy Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) (C), 9 Natasha Hunt (Lichfield), 1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester), 2 Emma Croker (Richmond), 3 Laura Keates (Worcester), 4 Joanna McGilchrist (Wasps), 5 Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 6 Heather Fisher (Worcester), 7 Margaret Alphonsi (Saracens), 8 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield) VC.

Replacements: 16 Victoria Fleetwood (Lichfield), 17 Claire Purdy (Wasps), 18 Rebecca Essex (Richmond), 19 Marlie Packer (Wasps), 20 La Toya Mason (Wasps), 21 Ceri Large (Worcester), 22 Kay Wilson (Bristol)

Tries: Merchant 2, Thompson 2, Hunt 2, Large 1, Mason 1, Scarratt 1
Conversions: Scarratt 6
Penalties: Scarratt 1
Substitutions: Wilson on for Merchant 40 mins, Essex on for McGilchrist 50 mins, Packer on for Fisher 50 mins, Purdy on for Keates 55 mins, Fleetwood on for Croker 55 mins, Large on for Mclean 58 mins, Mason on for Hunt 58 mins

Samoa
15 Soteria Pulumu 14 Brenda Collins, 13 Merenaite Faitala-Mariner 12 Mac Collins 11 Justine Luatua 10 Bella Milo 9 Tulua Leuluaialii 1 Tessa Wright 2 Sharlene Fagalilo 3 Ala Leavasa-Bakulich 4 Italia Tipelu 5 Cynthia Taala (C), 6 Sally Kaokao, 7 Rita Lilii, 8 Helen Collins.
Replacements: 16 Ginia Muavae, 17 Laura Levi, 18 Cynthia Apineru, 19 Juliana Sua, 20 Roxy Leaupepe 21 Taliilagi Mefi 22 Mele Leuluaialii.

England’s WRWC Fixtures:
Friday, August 1
England v Samoa, KO 5pm BST, Marcoussis, live on Sky Sports 3
Tuesday, August 5
England v Spain, KO 245pm BST, Marcoussis, live on Sky Sports 1
Saturday, August 9
England v Canada, KO 245pm BST, Marcoussis, live on Sky Sports 1
Wednesday, August 13
(19) 10th Seed v 11th Seed, KO 1pm BST, Marcoussis
(20) 9th Seed v 12th Seed, KO 315pm BST, Marcoussis
(21) 6th Seed v 7th Seed, KO 530pm BST, Marcoussis
(22) 5th Seed v 8th Seed, KO 245pm BST, Jean Bouin Stadium
(23) 2nd Seed v 3rd Seed, KO 5pm BST, Jean Bouin Stadium
(24) 1st Seed v 4th Seed, KO 745pm BST, Jean Bouin Stadium Sunday
Sunday, August 17
Loser Match 19 v Loser Match 20, KO 11am BST, Marcoussis
Winner Match 19 v Winner Match 20, KO 1pm BST, Marcoussis
Loser Match 21 v Loser Match 22, KO 3pm BST, Marcoussis
Winner Match 21 v Winner Match 22, KO 115pm BST, Jean Bouin Stadium
Loser Match 23 v Loser Match 24, KO 330pm BST, Jean Bouin Stadium
Winner Match 23 v Winner Match 24, KO 545pm BST, Jean Bouin Stadium