Australia v England
‘It could be the greatest upset there’s ever been in a Women’s World Cup’ (Morgan Turinui, ex-Wallaby and commentator)
‘Huge fear of losing the streak’ (paraphrase of Simon Middleton)
In dreadful conditions, rain teeming down to produce pools of water, England had the skills and nous to remain dominant almost throughout.
The Wallaroos fought to the end, but were handicapped by less secure handling and inaccurate line-out throws.
Result: Australia 5 England 41
Player of the Match: Marlie Packer
It was typical of Sarah Hunter, the record-breaking cap-winner, that Sarah Bern was asked to lead her team out to signal her 50th cap.
Not for the first time recently, the opposition advanced menacingly towards the England 22 from kick-off. But once the ball was turned over the Red Roses got to work. An early scrum saw the Wallaroos skid rearwards and Lydia Thompson had her first touch of the ball.
It was a relief seeing at least one team able to execute accurate passes in such dreadful conditions; the much less practised Wallaroos fell victim to an unhelpful bar of soap.
A scrum drive showed how wise the selectors were to maintain Hunter at No 8 (contrary to my predictions!). She controlled the ball brilliantly as the pack shunted forward. She was rewarded with the first try (5-0), then repeated this party piece of hers several times.
When England were in their own 22 (not very often!), it was noticeable that Emily Scarratt stood at second receiver, ready to clear the ball if Zoe Harrison found herself in difficulties. This was a foreseeable consequence of playing Tatyana Heard at 12. She thoroughly deserved to start, but it was at the cost of an experienced kicker in that slot (Helena Rowland, now at full-back, or Holly Aitchison).
But it gave England’s midfield extra thrust as Heard proved hard to pull down.
The TMO intervened to query an action by Zoe Aldcroft as she drove in low to help clear a breakdown. The verdict was a yellow, though observers thought that an undeserved outcome.
To show England’s strength up front, they still managed to hold and even drive the scrum during her absence. It all helped to settle nerves.
The Wallaroos’ response was to summon Lori Cramer to attempt a penalty from the 10-metre line. In the conditions this looked a vain way to stem the tide, and so it proved. Scarratt blasted the ball way back down the field to touch.
There again, Aldcroft and especially Abbie Ward were the masters of events; Adiana Talakai had problems with her throw from the start. Under this pressure possession grew less and less certain.
Harrison added another magnificent grubber to the sideline deep in Wallaroo territory. The game stayed rooted in the Australian red zone for ages; penalties racked up against them and Maggie Cogger-Orr issued a warning to Shannon Parry. Later she was shown yellow.
The conditions made finishing a tough ask. Packer peeled off the front of a line-out but Ward couldn’t hang on to an off-load. It took the Red Roses half-an-hour to double the score. Marlie Packer completed another unstoppable drive. (10-0)
The third try (Packer again!) came on the end of a great move. Sarah Bern peeled round the front and excellent interpassing opened the way to the line. (19-0)
The insecurity of England’s defensive patterns was exposed yet again as Heard rushed up ahead of the line, the Wallaroos by-passed her and Emily Chancellor was on the end of a great move.
Half-time: 19-5
At once another Harrison grubber put the Australians in deep defence. Ward claimed an early try. (24-5). Another typical choice followed: close to the try-line Harrison kicked to touch and Amy Cokayne was on the end of a peel. (29-5).
The rain had let up, but that didn’t ease the conditions. The Red Roses managed two more tries (Alex Matthews and a hat-trick for Marlie) to top 40 – a modest total by their current standards, but a great achievement on a skid-pan. Scarratt’s place-kicking has lost its normal accuracy.
Teams:
Australia: 1. Liz Patu, 2. Adiana Talakai, 3. Bridie O’Gorman, 4. Michaela Leonard, 5. Grace Kemp, 6. Emily Chancellor, 7. Shannon Parry (captain), 8. Grace Hamilton, 9. Layne Morgan, 10. Arabella McKenzie, 11. Lori Cramer, 12. Sharni Williams, 13.Georgina Friedrichs, 14. Bienne Terita, 15.Pauline Piliae-Rasabale
Bench: 16.Tania Naden, 17. Emily Robinson, 18.Eva Karpani, 19.Sera Naiqama, 20. Piper Duck, 21.Iliseva Batibasaga, 22. Cecilia Smith, 23. Mahalia Murphy
England: 15. Helena Rowland, 14. Lydia Thompson, 13. Emily Scarratt, 12. Tatyana Heard, 11. Abby Dow, 10. Zoe Harrison, 9. Leanne Infante, 1. Vickii Cornborough, 2. Amy Cokayne, 3. Sarah Bern, 4. Zoe Aldcroft, 5. Abbie Ward, 6. Alex Matthews, 7. Marlie Packer, 8. Sarah Hunter (captain)
Bench: 16. Lark Davies, 17. Hannah Botterman, 18. Maud Muir, 19. Rosie Galligan, 20. Poppy Cleall, 21. Lucy Packer, 22. Holly Aitchison, 23. Ellie Kildunne
Officials:
Referee: Maggie Cogger-Orr (NZR) AR 1: Lauren Jenner (NZR)
AR 2: Kat Roche (USAR)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Consequences:
With Canada beating USA 32-11 later in the day, the semi-finals read: Canada v England and France v New Zealand; the expected quartet.
Notes
England (62%) and Australia (58%) were the two teams to have averaged the most possession per game in this year’s RWC. Here those figures widened.
England gained a 29th successive victory. They scored seven tries, all by forwards. That adds up to 20 in the last two games, 19 by forwards. Conclusion?
Have England really been holding back, keeping some moves and tactics for the semi and the final?
We shall see.
Will the rains hold off?
