England Crushes Samoa and Sets Records at the Women’s Rugby World Cup
In a historic encounter in Northampton, England demonstrated their superiority in the Women’s Rugby World Cup by defeating Samoa with a score of 92-3. The match, which took place on Saturday, not only consolidated the dominance of the “Red Roses” but also broke several records. England, considered the favorite, met expectations by scoring 14 tries, including a hat-trick by Jess Breach, in front of an audience of 13,615 spectators at Franklin’s Gardens. The final result set a new record for the “Red Roses” at the World Cup, surpassing their 82-0 victory over Kazakhstan in 2010. In addition, they exceeded their previous record for points scored, achieved in their 84-19 victory against Fiji in 2022. Helena Rowland converted 11 of England’s 14 tries and, added to her own score, accumulated 27 points, surpassing the individual points record of an English player in a Women’s World Cup match. With this performance, Rowland surpassed the 25 points scored by Sue Day (vs. Italy in 2002) and Nicky Crawford (vs. Sweden in 1998).
The match was anticipated to be favorable for England, given that they were facing a team of amateur players, many of whom had to take unpaid leave from their jobs to participate in the World Cup. The “Red Roses”, with professional contracts and the pressure of being the favorites, faced a Samoan team aware of their “underdog” position, but willing to give their best.
The theme for Samoa for the week was “Mission: Impossible”. Although they didn’t lack effort or physicality, they were unable to stop the “Red Roses”, who presented 13 changes from their initial 69-7 victory against the United States the previous Friday. Without regular captain Zoe Aldcroft, Maggie Packer led England. Only Breach and Megan Jones remained in the starting team that played against the United States in Sunderland. Jones had an outstanding performance, while the scrum-half combination of Lucy Packer and Helena Rowland dismantled the Samoan defense. Breach also scored three well-deserved tries. The first half unfolded as planned. England scored within three minutes, thanks to a pass from Kelsey Clifford to Jones. Samoa offered physical resistance in defense, but failed to advance in attack, despite a failed attempt at an innovative lineout move. The brief Samoan respite soon ended, with Breach scoring England’s second try. Before the quarter-hour mark, they had already secured the bonus point, with Sarah Bern and Jones scoring again. The weather conditions did not favor either team. England added two more tries before halftime thanks to Lark Atkin-Davies and Lucy Packer. Samoa finished the first half with an improvement, but failed to score points to reward their effort. The most outstanding celebration was Samoa’s penalty, which came just after halftime. After losing their first match 73-0 against Australia, Harmony Vatau scored the first points of their World Cup participation with a penalty from 32 meters. The players turned to the fans, euphoric, and soon the support roared again when Emma Sing committed a knock-on in the English field. However, the “Red Roses” regained their rhythm, and Clifford scored to surpass 50 points.
