England Rebuilds After 90-4 Loss to Australia — SkimNews
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- Stuart Barrow selected a youthful England squad containing only six players from March’s record 90-4 defeat by Australia, saying the newcomers believe they can do better.
- Jasmin Strange suffered a serious knee injury in training on Tuesday and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament, a blow Barrow called “devastating” to the Australia preparation.
- England opened its campaign by thrashing Wales 70-6, although Barrow said unforced handling errors and a low completion rate were masked by the side’s ball skills.
- Australia opened with a 40-0 win over Samoa, has lost only once since 2016 and remains the international benchmark; hooker Keeley Nizza said England are now very different from the Las Vegas side.
- Connie Boyd scored a three-try hat-trick on her England debut after joining Barrow’s new-look squad.
- Isabel Rowe kicked nine conversions and scored two tries, recording 26 points — the highest single-match tally by a female England player at a World Cup.
- Amelia Brown scored twice against Wales, with her second try covering 107 metres and drawing one million social-media views that Barrow said put the women’s game “on the map.”
Why it matters: England’s rebuild features Isabel Rowe’s record 26-point World Cup tally for a female England player and Connie Boyd’s debut hat-trick, but Saturday’s benchmark is an Australia side that has lost only once since 2016 and opened 40-0 over Samoa. Jasmin Strange’s tournament-ending knee injury removes the second-row forward Barrow says will be sharply felt for the rest of the tournament.
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