JESS BREACH PLUNDERED a hat-trick as England continued their march through the Women’s Rugby World Cup group stage by overwhelming Samoa 92-3 at Franklin’s Gardens.
The mismatch between professionals and amateurs produced a predictable outcome with the Red Roses registering a 29th successive victory, sending records tumbling in the process.
It was their highest number of points scored in a World Cup match and their biggest margin of victory, while Player of the Match Helena Rowland’s individual haul of 27 points was the most in the nation’s history.
Rowland carved out her own slice of Red Roses history with the final act of the game when she converted Claudia Moloney-MacDonald’s try that was scored on the stroke of full-time.
Breach led the charge by lifting her total of Test tries to 52 with a trio of classy finishes and there was an eye-catching double from Megan Jones as England crossed 14 times against opponents ranked 15th in the world.
The win came even though head coach John Mitchell had made 13 changes to the starting XV after the United States had been thrashed in the tournament opener.
Samoa’s head coach Ramsey Tomokino described the showdown against a side that has never lost a World Cup group game as “mission impossible” and it took just 172 seconds for the size of the task to hit home.
The Islanders’ early tackling was ferocious but their organisation failed to match their intent, especially in the wider channels where Jones was the first over in the third minute before Breach showed her pace to finish in the right corner.
The drizzle at a gloomy Franklin’s Gardens took a toll on both sides’ handling, but the flow of points from England did not let up with Sarah Bern burrowing over from close range before Jones added her second.
The Red Roses were being presented with acres of space to attack, while their scrum was also dominant and when Maddie Feaunati and Lark Atkin-Davies touched down to reward the power of their pack, the lead grew to 40-0 with 30 minutes on the clock.
Advertisement
Samoa were being run ragged and were already showing signs of tiring, struggling to cope with the variety of their opponents’ play.
Lucy Packer added England’s seventh try, but the first-half finished with the Islanders on the rampage with fly-half Harmony Vatau and number eight Nina Foaese carrying hard.
The arrival of replacement tighthead Tori Losefo in the 33rd minute had steadied Samoa’s scrum and early in the second half they won a penalty at the set-piece that was slotted by Vatau, igniting wild celebrations on the field.
England then had to roll their sleeves up in defence and having weathered the storm, they advanced downfield to score through Kelsey Clifford before Breach went over for her second.
Rowland stuck and converted her own try, putting her joint level with Nicky Crawford and Sue Day as England’s record points scorer in a World Cup game on 25, but she was unable to push clear by failing to improve touch downs by Marlie Packer and Breach.
When Moloney-MacDonald crossed in the 80th minute, she had one last chance to nail the record and over went the touchline conversion.
- USA v Australia thriller -
Later, the United States and Australia played out the best game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup with a dramatic 31-31 draw in York.
In a tournament littered with lopsided scorelines, the United States twice overturned nine-point deficits before ending a thrilling clash all square.
The draw meant England qualified for the last eight.
To reach the next round, Australia will have to at least keep the score close when they play world number one England in Brighton next weekend.
The Wallaroos are five points clear of the United States in Pool A and have a huge points difference advantage. Australia are on +73 to the Eagles’ -62.
A single bonus point would see Australia advance. Even if the Wallaroos do not get one, the Eagles would require a huge win over Samoa to have a chance of reaching the knockout phase.
Australia full-back Caitlyn Halse scored two tries and set up two more for wing Desiree Miller.
The Eagles hit back. Flanker Freda Tafuna scored two tries. Lock Erica Jarrell-Searcy burst clear after 69 minutes to give the Americans a 31-26 lead.
Australia replacement Eva Karpani’s try five minutes from time levelled the scores.
Sam Wood was narrowly wide with a conversion that could have won the game for Australia and taken them into the quarter-finals.
Australia coach Joanne Yapp, a former England captain, said: “We let them into the game in that second half and our penalty count allowed them access to our half, and when they’re in there, they’re hard to stop.”
Eagles skipper Kate Zackary praised her side’s resilience: “The thing I am most proud about is every time we got hit, we hit back a little bit harder.
“We’ve earned ourselves another chance for the quarter-finals.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
13 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
England run in 14 tries in record-breaking Women's Rugby World Cup rout of Samoa
LAST UPDATE | 30 Aug
JESS BREACH PLUNDERED a hat-trick as England continued their march through the Women’s Rugby World Cup group stage by overwhelming Samoa 92-3 at Franklin’s Gardens.
The mismatch between professionals and amateurs produced a predictable outcome with the Red Roses registering a 29th successive victory, sending records tumbling in the process.
It was their highest number of points scored in a World Cup match and their biggest margin of victory, while Player of the Match Helena Rowland’s individual haul of 27 points was the most in the nation’s history.
Rowland carved out her own slice of Red Roses history with the final act of the game when she converted Claudia Moloney-MacDonald’s try that was scored on the stroke of full-time.
Breach led the charge by lifting her total of Test tries to 52 with a trio of classy finishes and there was an eye-catching double from Megan Jones as England crossed 14 times against opponents ranked 15th in the world.
The win came even though head coach John Mitchell had made 13 changes to the starting XV after the United States had been thrashed in the tournament opener.
Samoa’s head coach Ramsey Tomokino described the showdown against a side that has never lost a World Cup group game as “mission impossible” and it took just 172 seconds for the size of the task to hit home.
The Islanders’ early tackling was ferocious but their organisation failed to match their intent, especially in the wider channels where Jones was the first over in the third minute before Breach showed her pace to finish in the right corner.
The drizzle at a gloomy Franklin’s Gardens took a toll on both sides’ handling, but the flow of points from England did not let up with Sarah Bern burrowing over from close range before Jones added her second.
The Red Roses were being presented with acres of space to attack, while their scrum was also dominant and when Maddie Feaunati and Lark Atkin-Davies touched down to reward the power of their pack, the lead grew to 40-0 with 30 minutes on the clock.
Samoa were being run ragged and were already showing signs of tiring, struggling to cope with the variety of their opponents’ play.
Lucy Packer added England’s seventh try, but the first-half finished with the Islanders on the rampage with fly-half Harmony Vatau and number eight Nina Foaese carrying hard.
The arrival of replacement tighthead Tori Losefo in the 33rd minute had steadied Samoa’s scrum and early in the second half they won a penalty at the set-piece that was slotted by Vatau, igniting wild celebrations on the field.
England then had to roll their sleeves up in defence and having weathered the storm, they advanced downfield to score through Kelsey Clifford before Breach went over for her second.
Rowland stuck and converted her own try, putting her joint level with Nicky Crawford and Sue Day as England’s record points scorer in a World Cup game on 25, but she was unable to push clear by failing to improve touch downs by Marlie Packer and Breach.
When Moloney-MacDonald crossed in the 80th minute, she had one last chance to nail the record and over went the touchline conversion.
- USA v Australia thriller -
Later, the United States and Australia played out the best game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup with a dramatic 31-31 draw in York.
In a tournament littered with lopsided scorelines, the United States twice overturned nine-point deficits before ending a thrilling clash all square.
The draw meant England qualified for the last eight.
To reach the next round, Australia will have to at least keep the score close when they play world number one England in Brighton next weekend.
The Wallaroos are five points clear of the United States in Pool A and have a huge points difference advantage. Australia are on +73 to the Eagles’ -62.
A single bonus point would see Australia advance. Even if the Wallaroos do not get one, the Eagles would require a huge win over Samoa to have a chance of reaching the knockout phase.
Australia full-back Caitlyn Halse scored two tries and set up two more for wing Desiree Miller.
The Eagles hit back. Flanker Freda Tafuna scored two tries. Lock Erica Jarrell-Searcy burst clear after 69 minutes to give the Americans a 31-26 lead.
Australia replacement Eva Karpani’s try five minutes from time levelled the scores.
Sam Wood was narrowly wide with a conversion that could have won the game for Australia and taken them into the quarter-finals.
Australia coach Joanne Yapp, a former England captain, said: “We let them into the game in that second half and our penalty count allowed them access to our half, and when they’re in there, they’re hard to stop.”
Eagles skipper Kate Zackary praised her side’s resilience: “The thing I am most proud about is every time we got hit, we hit back a little bit harder.
“We’ve earned ourselves another chance for the quarter-finals.”
- With reporting from – © AFP 2025
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
England Red Hot Roses red roses Rugby WRWC