England had to execute something they have not had to do in John Mitchell’s reign against Australia on Saturday, win after being down at half-time. It was the first time in almost six years the Red Roses had been trailing after the first 40. But whatever was said in the changing room shook the team to life as they scored 43 second-half points to keep their winning streak going.
Australia gave the Red Roses quite the scare in the first half. The Wallaroos were not just clinical when in attack, but they were thorough and physical in defence to disrupt England’s front-foot ball. The visitors played some of their best rugby since last year’s World Cup, when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals, before falling apart in the second half. England were uncharacteristically poor at times with several knock-ons and other handling errors hampering their attack.
This was the first game with the smaller ball. In WXV matches this autumn, teams are playing with a size 4.5 ball instead of the usual size five. World Rugby has introduced the trial to see if it has a positive impact after similar trials in youth competitions and in sevens. At a windy Salford, Australia dealt with the change better but the Wallaroos captain, Siokapesi Palu Sekona, said she and her teammates “had already played with the ball in our Super [Rugby] season so we haven’t had to adjust much”.
The England captain, Meg Jones – who was sporting a black eye – said: “I think we are fed up of speaking about it. I’m a craftsman and I’ll never blame my tools.”
The England fly-half, Holly Aitchison, won her 50th cap less than 40 miles from her home town club of Firwood Waterloo. She led the team out and her teammates congratulated her as they lined up for the anthems. Just like the last time the two nations played, at last year’s World Cup, Australia scored the first points with a penalty from Samantha Wood’s boot.
Australia then deployed ferocious defence but all of their good work looked to have been undone after Meg Jones appeared to score from a charged-down kick, however Tatyana Heard was offside.
A deliberate knock-on from Wood meant the visitors were down to 14 and while England were sloppy with the ball they went over through Abi Burton. The Wallaroos had a try ruled out before Faliki Pohiva scored and another impressive defensive set saw them hold a thoroughly deserved 10-5 half-time lead.
England were sharper in the second half and showed their teeth in attack with a tirade of tries beginning with a score by May Campbell. Just as the scrum was the Red Roses’ winning north star in the 2025 World Cup final and Women’s Six Nations grand slam decider this year, it gave them much needed momentum – particularly after the front row was changed – and it generated a try for Jones. Credit must go to the captain too, with a bit of individual skill sealing the score.
The Red Roses scoring tap was firmly on and the debutant Bryony Field, Mia Venner and Sadia Kabeya added tries. The replacement scrum-half, Lucy Packer, made an acrobatic finish and Claudia Moloney-MacDonald finished out the tries.
Australia were completely outplayed in the second half and their director of women’s high performance, Tim Walsh, said even when his team are at their best “we are probably not good enough”.
“We will be, but that is where we are at,” he said. “We have great players, which we need great environments for so they can be as physical as they can be. England are a fantastic team. They came with an 80-minute team, we are a 50-minute team. We will get there.
“If we are going to win, we want to win [a home World Cup in 2029] so that is a good benchmark to work our way back from.”
The England head coach, John Mitchell, said his team are world No 1 because they are “so harsh on themselves when standards drop”.
The Red Roses will have to be much improved when they face their World Cup final opponents, Canada, next Saturday to keep their winning run, now 39 games, intact. For Australia, if they can produce the rugby they did in the first half against England for their entire match against France they could come away with their first victory since March.
