Following a three-year absence the Women’s Rugby Super Series returned in style on Friday as 13 tries were scored across the two matches at the Chula Vista Training Center in San Diego.
England scored the day’s opening try within seven minutes and would go on to record a convincing 38-5 bonus-point victory against the hosts, USA.
World Champions New Zealand began their campaign with a hard-fought 35-20 victory against Canada, who won the last edition of the tournament in 2016.
Simon Middleton’s England needed to beat the hosts to have any chance of overhauling New Zealand at the top of the World Rugby Women’s Rankings and Canada’s defeat to New Zealand means that they will fall one place in rankings when they update on Monday, swapping with France.
France will play their opening game of the Women’s Rugby Super Series 2019 against Canada on Tuesday.
The Women’s Rugby Super Series is an international competition where the world’s top-ranked 15-a-side teams participate in ten Test matches from 28 June to 14 July.
For the first time since its inception the Women’s Rugby Super Series has increased from four to five participating teams in 2019 with the last iteration held in 2016 in the USA.
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World Rugby is dedicated to growing the women’s game and recently launched a new ‘Women in Rugby’ brand identity and global campaign ‘Try and Stop Us’, aimed at driving increased participation and engagement among fans, audiences, players and investors in the women’s game.
Women’s rugby is one of sport’s great success stories, experiencing unprecedented growth around the world. Participation levels are at an all-time high with 2.7 million players globally – making up more than a quarter of the global playing population – and a 28 per cent increase in registered players since 2017.
Courtesy of World Rugby
