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Player Comparisons: England down USA to kick off World Cup campaign in style
John Mitchell’s Red Roses secured a dominant 69 – 7 win to get their World Cup campaign off to a perfect start in front of 42,000 fans at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
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Leaning into their power game early, England struck first through their maul with backrow Sadia Kabeya capitalising.
Despite facing a ferocious defensive effort from the Eagles, who pinched a few key turnovers, England would score again in the 19th minute through Hannah Botterman. Getting on the end of some exceptional play—firstly by Megan Jones, who found Abby Dow with a pinpoint cross-field kick, Botterman powered through two Eagles defenders to score.
Just as the home side began to settle into their rhythm, the USA struck back with what will certainly be a try-of-the-tournament contender through Erica Jarrell-Searcy. Taking the ball just inside her half, the powerhouse lock burst through England’s defence. Once through the first tackle, she showed a great turn of pace to get her side back into the contest.
This would be the high point for the visitors, who would see their downfall begin when centre Alev Kelter was sent to the sin bin in the 26th minute. England would go on to score nine unanswered tries.
Front Row – Advantage England
Setting the platform for their side with a comprehensive dismantling of the Eagles at scrum time.
At loosehead, Hannah Botterman put on a show for her try with some top-notch footwork before powering through two USA defenders.
Matching Botterman’s try-scoring efforts with a score of her own, albeit in very different circumstances, she powered over following wave after wave of England pick-and-goes. At scrum time, she caused the experienced Hope Rogers all sorts of issues, milking penalties and forcing Rogers to collapse on several occasions.
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Completing the starting front row’s scoring with her final touch in the 51st minute was Amy Cokayne, who finished off a perfectly executed training-pitch move. At lineout time, she finished with a solid 89% return against an Eagles pack that competed hard.
When the replacements came on, the picture was the same as the Roses continued their dominance at scrum time.
Second Row – Advantage England
One of the most hotly contested head-to-heads saw the Eagles pairing get close to edging proceedings, in large part due to Erica Jarrell-Searcy’s outrageous long-range try. Taking the ball just inside her half, Jarrell-Searcy powered through two would-be England defenders before outpacing the England backfield cover to score the Eagles’ only try.
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Away from this highlight-reel moment, the Sale Sharks lock was a key carrier for her side, winning 15 tackles, securing 3 lineouts, and putting in a serious shift in defence with 12 tackles.
Doing the hard yards alongside her, lock partner Tahlia Brody went to work at the breakdown and got through her tackles (8) before being replaced in the 52nd minute.
Yet overlooking the England locks would be irresponsible, with Morwenna Talling and Abbie Ward getting through a mountain of work.
Starting with Talling, who completed 26 tackles (3 dominant) and won two lineouts, the Sale Sharks youngster blitzed the USA ball carriers time and again. With the ball in hand, Talling carried 9 times in the tight to lay a platform for her side.
Complementing her partner, Ward’s impact at the breakdown was huge as she led a handful of counter-rucks and made solid metres with her 6 carries.
Back Row – Advantage England
Linking play with authority, the England backrow caused the USA a world of trouble.
Opening the try-scoring at this year’s World Cup, Sadia Kabeya finished off an executed maul to get the Red Roses up and running. From here, the Loughborough Lightning openside got through a whopping 30 tackles, 9 carries, and a turnover.
On the blindside, Zoe Aldcroft had her first significant impact with a huge counter-ruck in the 21st minute. Opening the second half with another moment of flash, Aldcroft popped a well-placed offload for Meg Jones in the build-up to Abby Dow’s try.
Rounding out the Roses’ backrow efforts, number eight Alex Matthews did a considerable amount of grunt work for her side with 16 tackles and 7 carries.
For the Eagles, captain Kate Zackary was immense for a pack that was struggling. Employing her trademark work rate, Zackary got through 9 tackles and stopped a certain England try in the 4th minute. Matching her skipper’s efforts, Rachel Johnson was the joint-top tackler for the Eagles with 15, won a turnover, and topped the carry charts with 19.
Half Back – Advantage England
Pulling the strings perfectly to facilitate those around them, the combination of Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison was rock solid in front of an expectant crowd.
Hunt’s service from the ruck was slick with 64 passes behind a pack that was firmly on top. Notably, she showed plenty of patience to allow her pack to go through the phases when the temptation would’ve been to go wide early.
At ten, Harrison’s passing range unlocked the Eagles’ defence and got the ball away from the hard-hitting pairing of Alev Kelter and Ilona Maher. This width brought the electric England outside backs into the game frequently.
Despite having minimal opportunities, the USA pairing of Olivia Ortiz and McKenzie continually took on the English defence, despite getting smashed back on a few occasions.
For Hawkins, her kicking for touch from penalties was a few notches down from what she would’ve expected. Conversely, when under pressure, her clearing kicks had good distance—albeit often returned with venom by Ellie Kildunne and co.
Centre – Advantage England
Powerful, dynamic and skilful, England’s centre pairing was at the heart of everything positive the Red Roses achieved.
Starting with Meg Jones’s pinpoint cross-field kick in the build-up to Hannah Botterman’s try to her huge carry over Georgie Perris-Redding, which forced the USA backrow off the pitch. The outside centre had a performance that will have put every team in the competition on notice.
Managing to contain the physical USA centres, Tatyana Heard put herself about with 14 tackles and carried well for 39 metres, with a nice line break mixed in.
Similar to their halfback pairing, the USA centres had limited opportunities to leave a positive impact.
Alev Kelter’s yellow card in the 12th minute proved to be the catalyst for England’s attack to launch into overdrive and could’ve easily been avoided. While she worked hard to make up for the error on her return, the damage had already been done.
Conversely, the biggest star in professional rugby, Ilona Maher, made the best of her limited opportunities with two huge carries that occupied multiple English defenders. The first effort in the 16th minute took four Red Roses to stop and put the Eagles firmly on the front foot before a few handling errors stunted their attempts. In total, Maher made 40 metres from 7 carries and proved once again that she will be key to the Eagles’ attack as the competition goes on.
Back Three – Advantage England
Absolutely everywhere—that is the only fair description of Ellie Kildunne’s performance. From the off, the World Player of the Year was dominant and displayed her full bag of tricks to score and set up spectacular tries. At a stadium accustomed to elite football, the Harlequins star pulled off a moment of magic with her control on the knee before racing away to set up Jess Breach.
On the wings, Abby Dow and Breach were immense. Dow finished her day with 91 metres and a try, whilst Breach crossed twice.
While the tries will understandably garner the headlines, it was the work rate of the pairing that was so impressive. Dow’s willingness to chase every kick was rewarded in the build-up to England’s second try as she wrestled a high ball away from Lotte Sharp.
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