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RWC 2025: Four things we learnt from England v Samoa
By Lucy Lomax
As many expected, the number one nation in the world taking on number 15 amateur side Samoa was only going to end one way bar a monumental upset. The hosts of this Rugby World Cup, England, did not rest on their laurels with the Red Roses putting in an impressive performance, winning 92-3 in damp and dreary conditions at Franklin’s Gardens.
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A total of 14 tries with 11 different scorers, this match saw the Red Roses score their highest ever number of points in a World Cup game.
Off the back of this win England will go marching on to the quarter-finals if Australia beat the USA in the final match of the day.
Here’s what we learnt from the encounter.
Jess Breach hitting her prime
Winger Jess Breach scored her 50th try in England colours after bagging two against the USA last week, with a hat-trick to her name on Saturday evening.
The speedster came back from a hip injury earlier this year and despite showcasing her form in club colours, it has taken until this World Cup for the back three player to really hit her straps. Popping up in the right places and gliding down the wing with scintillating speed, you feel there is still more to come from the ‘Jess Express’.
Scoring 50 times for England is rare and something only four Red Roses have ever done before.
With plaudits often going to Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne, Breach has found her form just at the right time as England look set to qualify for the quarter-finals with a game to spare.
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England have kicking options
With Zoe Harrison kicking six conversions last week and player of the match Helena Rowland with 11 this week, England have shown they have at least two reliable kickers in their ranks, something which could really be crucial come the knock out stages.
With goal kicking a concern in previous international tournaments such as the Six Nations, England appear to have strengthened this area. The final say of the match went to Rowland as she calmly slotted a touchline conversion to take the score deeper in to the nineties.
With Emma Sing the go-to goal kicker for her club Gloucester-Hartpury and fly-half Holly Aitchison yet to play any minutes at this World Cup, you feel England are in a good place heading into their final pool match against Australia and beyond.
Samoa prove big scorelines don’t matter
With plenty of chat in the build-up this week about the one sided score lines, this match may appear to have gone in favour of the argument that they are a bad look for the tournament, but Samoa showed today that despite not scoring a try, the match was entertaining nonetheless.
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Samoa really built up a head of steam at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second and were unable to dot down but were rewarded with three points off the tee instead early in the second half.
The women in blue chopped England players down with huge tackles, showcased deft handling, and were met with enthusiastic cheers from the crowd when they won a penalty against England’s elite at scrum-time.
Despite these in-game wins being relatively minor, the culture, vibrancy and flair the non-professional teams bring to the tournament is well worth cherishing.
The depth of the England squad
With head coach John Mitchell making 13 changes to his team from last week, any other team might have expected a few coherency issues with a new centre partnership, new half-backs and the entire starting pack different to that that started at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
Despite the opposition never looking to properly challenge England on the scoresheet, you could argue against stronger teams they may have shown more areas of weakness but nevertheless, England have the most depth of any team in the women’s game and as this tournament draws on, and injury replacements become more important, this could really be the golden nugget which sees England to their first World Cup crown in over a decade.
