England women dismantle a debuting Wales side in double header opener

England’s women put 11 tries past a resolute Welsh team on their Test debut, with an eventual 60-0 shutout at the final whistle.

Tonight played host to the 33rd England Women’s International Rugby League Test and the first-ever against Wales. It came as part of a doubleheader at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, home of the Warrington Wolves.

England’s Women had the opportunity to play live on Sky Sports, preceding the men’s game against the Combined Nations All-Stars. This, undoubtedly, is a big step forward for the women’s game and comes just weeks after the women’s Challenge Cup final was played on terrestrial television as part of a triple-header with the men’s Challenge Cup Semi-finals.

This sets the precedent for what should be a momentous year for Women’s Rugby League, and inclusivity in the sport in general. For the first time ever, The Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair Men’s World Cup will be held simultaneously. This is a big step for the sport because it highlights the progress made across the board, and gets more eyes on the games as it is presented as one unanimous tournament.

The women’s matches will largely be played as doubleheaders, in an attempt to get more eyes on the so-called ‘lesser” games. This will all culminate with the women’s final being played at Old Trafford as part of a doubleheader with the men’s World Cup final. 

For Wales themselves, this was their first-ever International test Rugby League match, indicating the progression of the game, but also highlighting how far there is to go with regards to creating a sizeable platform for the women. As a result, this led to a whopping thirteen debutants in the Welsh match-day squad, nine of which were in the starting lineup. Many of the Welsh players had crossed over from Rugby Union, meaning this game was going to be a real test of how they’ve adjusted. For Wales, this is the crucial first step in a long and arduous journey, one which they will hope sees them compete at the 2025 World Cup. 

Similarly to the men’s team, the women have had a long hiatus from International action, albeit not quite as lengthy. This game was the first opportunity for the England squad to play together in two years and offered a great chance for some vital playing time in the lead up to the World Cup. The English team saw four debutants, and a whopping eight St.Helens players in the team following their Challenge Cup success. 

The Match…

England came out the blocks firing as they cut through the Welsh defensive line like  following a successful first defensive set. Jodie Cunningham showcased her power running with the ball as she bulldozed her way through multiple tackles before shipping the ball off to Carrie Roberts who went over for the first try of the game.  Following this, there was almost a dream debut for Fran Goldthorp, who dove over in the corner only to be informed she had just wandered into touch. Wales defended brilliantly well for the opening 20 minutes but were their own worst enemy when they gave away countless knock-ons early in sets. Frustratingly, the execution was off for England, and Wales were able to slightly frustrate the home side. 

Wales once again invited the pressure from England, having just worked so hard to keep them out. A cracking defensive set was put to waste after Danyelle Dinapoli spilt the ball directly into the path of Tara Jones, who collected and went over for a gift of a try. This, unfortunately, opened the floodgates from a Welsh perspective as straight from the kick-off Emily Rudge found a gaping hole in the Welsh line, before recycling the ball to Jodie Cunningham who backed herself in a one on one matchup against Rafiuke Taylor, and subsequently came out on top.

Inevitably, some inexperience shone through for Wales as they gave away needless penalties and failing to organise themselves defensively. Shona Hoyle capitalised on an illegal steal and waltzed through the Welsh defence as if they weren’t there. Meanwhile, the debut try did eventually come for 18-year-old Fran Goldthorp as both of the wingers were involved in the build-up, before a patented Beth Stott long pass out to the wing, allowed Goldthorp to dive over.

As Half time approached, Wales simply were not able to cope with an England side who were in full flow. England showed that they could penetrate the Welsh defensive line from deep as Jodie Cunningham cropped up with yet another line break, before offloading to Chantelle Crowl. Crowl carried powerfully before finding Georgia Roche on her inside, who did well to fend off two attempted tackle before going under the posts.

History can often repeat itself in sport, and that’s exactly what happened at the start of the Second half. England were able to recycle the ball inside having being shut out on the wing, and captain Emily Rudge powered her way over the line. A second teenager got a debut try as Caitlyn Beevers used her blistering pace and footwork to dance past the Welsh defence to score. 

Having not played together for over 18 months, it’s perhaps not surprising there were spells in which England lacked continuity. A combination of unforced errors, injuries and some solid Welsh defence led to a lull in the play, before eventually, England were able to turn the screw once again. Unbelievably, England’s ninth try came with a ninth different try scorer, this time it was another Welsh mistake exploited as Georgia Roche found her namesake Georgia Wilson with a looping ball to go over in the corner. 

The trend of different try scorers for each England try was broken by Emily Rudge, who powered over to earn her brace and prove why she was wearing the captain’s armband. For the neutral, it would have been good to see Wales go over for a score in their first-ever test match. Throughout the game, Wales never really got enough territory to force the issue, but they were given an opportunity with a late spill by England over in their corner.

Wales had a full seven tackle set to make something, but unfortunately, they lacked the quality to take advantage of the opportunity presented to them. It seemed as if the transition from Union to League had resulted in the Welsh players lacking urgency. As the hooter drew closer, there was just enough time for one more debut England try, Wales fumbled a kick and Hollie Dodd went over from the resulting penalty. The final score was a resounding 60-0 victory for England. 

All in all, it was a solid test for the English side, who showed their quality by dismantling the Welsh side. There is plenty to work on, as there were spells in both halves in which England made some unnecessary and unforced errors. There is a few months of a difficult Super League season to manoeuvre before making the final preparations for the World Cup opener against Brazil. 

As for Wales, they will learn an awful lot from this test, and their goals are considerably more long term. They were exposed for a lack of experience and quality at times, but never stopped putting everything in and had some good defensive spells in which they kept England quiet. They will look ahead to their next tests and ultimately build towards qualification to the 2025 World Cup. 

England don’t have any pre-tournament warm-up matches scheduled as of now, so this may be the last opportunity to get some minutes together before the World Cup begins. If that’s so, then Craig Richards will be content with the performance he has seen today heading into the Brazil game.

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