England make statement with dominant World Cup win over United States

England began their World Cup campaign in style after running in 11 tries to beat the United States 69-7 at the Stadium of Light.

In front of a record-breaking crowd of 42,723, the number one ranked side in the world went ahead through Sadia Kabeya and Hannah Botterman, before Erica Jarrell-Searcy responded for the USA.

After Alev Kelter was shown yellow, Maud Muir and player of the match Ellie Kildunne scored in quick succession for England to lead 28-7 at the break.

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In a ruthless second-half showing, the Red Roses went on to add a further seven tries as Abby Dow, Kildunne and Amy Cokayne all went over and Jess Breach and Lark Atkin-Davies each ran in braces.

England have now won 28 straight games and extended their winning run against the United States to 21 matches.

John Mitchell named an unchanged starting line-up from England’s pre-season win against France earlier this month, while 11 World Cup debutants were listed in the USA squad, including four in the starting 15.

A bright start for the hosts was rewarded in the ninth minute when England utilised the driving maul from a lineout and Kabeya crossed before Zoe Harrison slotted between the sticks.

Although the United States gained some ground, the Red Roses soon stormed up the field and their next try stemmed from Megan Jones’ neat grubber kick onto the right flank.

Dow then scooped the ball up and from the resulting ruck, Botterman was played in by Natasha Hunt to ground, with Harrison converting.

The USA hit back in the 25th minute when a quick switch in play saw Jarrell-Searcy evade Hunt’s tackle to charge down the pitch and score, with McKenzie Hawkins adding the extras.

However, moments later they were reduced to 14 when Kelter was sent to the sin bin and England took advantage.

Their troublesome maul was well-defended by the USA, who offered some stubborn resistance on their own tryline before Muir eventually went over, with Harrison converting.

England then struck only seconds after the restart when Dow broke down the right and offloaded into Kildunne, who flew over the line and Harrison’s kick was successful.

Only moments into the second half, the Red Roses piled on the pressure and after 15 phases on the tryline, a quick move to the right saw Dow cross in the corner three minutes in.

Kildunne struck for a second time when Breach played a grubber kick on the left, which Lotte Sharp was unable to collect and the England full-back grasped the ball before reaching over to ground, with Harrison converting.

England soon sailed away with the game as a quick move from the lineout saw the ball offloaded to Cokayne, who touched down in the corner and they scored again when a quick switch in play saw the ball played into Breach in plenty of space to easily ground.

Following another good spell of pressure on the USA tryline, replacement Atkin-Davies powered over and Harrison converted.

Kildunne was at the heart of England’s 10th try, keeping her kick in before offloading to Breach to score and on her fifth World Cup appearance, Emily Scarratt was unable to convert.

Atkin-Davies added a second try in the final five minutes from another maul and World Cup debutant Emma Sing added the extras.