A huge crowd at a breezy Brighton watched England start their last group-stage match with a string of errors.
Was it nerves, or over-confidence or wrong selections?
Amy Cokayne failed to find her line-out target three times; Meg Jones threw two wild passes. As they regained possession in deep defence, they ran the ball out and lost it. How many times gave we seen their opponents do the same?
A fine angled kick by Faitala Moleka to the right corner started a move finished off by Adiana Talakai on the end of a drive. (0-7)
The crowd swallowed hard. Perhaps they didn’t know the Wallaroos’ reputation at RWCs.
At last England fitted their boots on to the correct feet. Zoe Harrison sent a long pass left to Jess Breach, and she was away.
But surely the pass went forward? No intervention from an official, so it stood. Harrison couldn’t convert. (5-7)
Another lost line-out led to Mo Hunt, behind her own line, off-loading a desperately adventurous pass to Ellie Kildunne. Somehow she managed to clear to safety.
This wasn’t the game-plan. The gold shirts were everywhere. Oh, a reminder: England were playing in black or very dark blue. The Black Ferns can’t stand playing in white.
The next moment England were in the Aussies’ 22 and winning a penalty. That was more like it! Cokayne made up for previous frailties by scoring her 40th international try from a trademark drive. At last the home side was in the lead. (12-7)
Ah! We’re forgetting the TMO again, the one person who can’t afford to enjoy a game. Not a clean touchdown.
It took the Red Roses all of 30 minutes to get their noses in front. Abbie Ward was on the business end of a rolling maul.
Slowly, England were taking over, but by the break they had added just one more try; Sadia Kabeya exploited a clever move by Hunt to cross near the edge.
Half-time: 19-7
The longer the game lasted, the more the gap grew between the two sides
A yellow for Moleka helped England considerably. But even when they made errors, the Wallaroos couldn’t profit.
The first half had shown up a number of English weaknesses.
The first of two injuries caused concern: Hannah Botterman had to be helped off the field in considerable pain. It was later diagnosed as a back spasm.
A second followed after the break: Ellie Kildunne was summoned from the field for an HIA. She didn’t return. These are two players England would rather not do without.
Helena Rowland, who replaced Kildunne at the back, was once more masterful in attack and defence.
The second half followed a more typical course. Tries rained in. It helped that Moleka was shown a yellow card, but, almost inevitably, English power and stamina shone through.
The Wallaroos kept up their assaults, but found it increasingly difficult finishing them off. Their great encouragement was knowing they were through to the quarters. The USA Eagles’ result had already come through.
Spot the theme in these try-scorers: Kabeya, a second; Kelsey Clifford, on for Botterman, two; and Sarah Bern one. Correct! All forwards. That will delight every Black Ferns’ supporter.
Is this another English frailty exposed? Abby Dow had a few dangerous thrusts, but was stopped in time.
At least the huge gaps in the backfield, visible in the first half, closed up.
All in all this was an incomplete performance, despite the final margin.
Result: England 47 Australia 7
Player of the Match: Alex Matthews
Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau (FFR)
Attendance: 30,433
Teams
England
15 KILDUNNE 14 DOW 13 JONES 12 HEARD 11 BREACH 10 HARRISON 9 HUNT 1 BOTTERMAN 2 COKAYNE 3 MUIR 4 GALLIGAN 5 WARD 6 TALLING 7 KABEYA 8 MATTHEWS (captain)
16 ATKIN-DAVIES 17 CLIFFORD 18 BERN 19 IVES CAMPION 20 FEAUNATI 21 L. PACKER 22 AITCHISON 23 ROWLAND
Australia
15 HALSE 14 STEWART 13 FRIEDRICHS 12 POMARE THE 11 MILLER 10 MOLEKA 9 WOOD 1 KAVOA 2 TALAKAI 3 KARPANI 4 LEANEY 5 LEONARD 6 DUCK 7 MARSTERS 8 PALU (captain)
16 NADEN 17 POHIVA 18 O’GORMAN 19 CODEY 29 CHANCELLOR 21 TUINAKAUVADRA 22 HINDS 23 SMITH
Afterthoughts
The Princess of Wales was In attendance, giving the (non-playing) England captain useful tips on the finer points of the game.
Jo Yapp may have occupied the most unusual place ever as head coach of one of the teams: she coached most of the England squad, either at Worcester Warriors (Valkyries) or with the England Under 20s.
Some say she should have been occupying the equivalent seat on the England side. At least she has seen her Wallaroos through to the next stage.
The Brighton ground may not have been able to produce another earth-shattering giant-killing act, but it was a riot of colour and noise.
