‘First-class’ Breach stars for ‘one team’ England

Different team, same outcome

World Cup favorites England destroyed Samoa in Northampton despite making 13 changes in John Mitchell’s starting XV.

The question was always whether the world’s top-ranked team would win big.

A record 92-3 Women’s World Cup win for fully professional England came as no surprise given that Samoa’s part-time players had to crowdfund to compete for their place and were the second-lowest ranked team in the competition in 15th place.

The victory gave Mitchell’s players a chance to claim a starting spot for the duration of their careers, which was prior to kick-off’s top goal.

We are a one team, one circle, Mitchell said, “It’s not about comparing the line-ups.”

“You can lose when the scoreboard grows,” but we didn’t. The performance thrilled me.

We could pick anyone because, at the end of the day, the injury gods haven’t been kind to us.

Samoa won their first Women’s Rugby World Cup match since 2014, defeating Australia 73-0, to begin the competition.

The lack of strong opposition gave England’s backline stars a fantastic opportunity to shine.

Helena Rowland, the backup fly-half, broke the individual record in a Women’s World Cup match with a score of 27 points.

With numerous excellent clearance kicks, Rowland’s kicking from hand was not just about the points.

Mitchell remarked, “Hella was outstanding. She possesses excellent abilities. She did a good job of investigating the game. She really guided the attack and made it work for us. The girls were fed off of her direction.

Rowland had plenty of time to start the backline after her half-back partner Lucy Packer’s quick service and try-scoring from the base of the ruck.

Megan Jones continued her excellent play in the center, scoring two well-taken tries, as wing-to-wing battles are raging.

Jess Breach, one of the two players who won with a score of 69-7 over the United States, received criticism last week for not making a try-saving tackle in the first half but then added with a hat-trick against Samoa to strengthen her bid to earn a starting spot.

Claudia Moloney-MacDonald won the women’s Six Nations Grand Slam final in April, but she has since withdrawn due to a hamstring injury, which has hindered her preparation and World Cup start.

The 29-year-old returned to Northampton and scored the final try of the match, but Breach, who now has 52 tries in 49 caps, had a weak performance.

Jess excelled in one-on-one duels. She will burn you if she finds a half-metre, Mitchelll said.

She has put herself in that position because she is confident and has worked hard. She excels when she acts like that.

Simon Middleton, the former England head coach, praised Breach’s workrate.

Jess gave a top-notch wing performance, he told BBC Sport.

She slammed her opposing wing, ran for a job, and appeared everywhere. She adapted to the difficulty of the shirt-stamp competitors around her.

Breach was unable to play at the Six Nations due to a hip injury suffered in November.

Breach has now scored five tries in two World Cup games to bring him back up to speed.

I’m back and really enjoying my rugby; I’m feeling the most fit ever,” Brace told BBC Sport.

The England wing almost ran half the pitch after some clever footwork in the second half to cap off that return to form.

Ruby Tui, a New Zealand winger, told BBC Sport, “She came close to scoring the try of the tournament, but her right toe touched the line.”

You could tell from her adage, “She was full of confidence, and the way she worked off her wing was obvious.

Moloney-MacDonald and Abby Dow are competing for the final starting wing spot because Abby Dow has always been Mitchell’s first choice for the right wing.

After suffering a second neck injury in February 2024, Moloney-MacDonald was extremely anxious to try again and declare herself “terrified to be anywhere near a rugby pitch.”

When I look back, it’s unbelievable, and I remember being afraid to attend training a year ago because I didn’t want to be hit by a ball. “I’m just proud to be here,” Holmes-MacDonald told BBC Sport.

Samoa scored their first points of the World Cup with a score of 47-0 thanks to Harmony Vatau’s boot.

The Pacific Islanders have not won a game of the tournament since 2006 and haven’t qualified for the previous two World Cups.

The players and supporters roared loudly after Vatau’s kick to mark their biggest-stage return.

Samoa head coach Ramsey Tomokino told BBC Sport, “I did [smile when we got points]] but we initially wanted to tap and go and we talked about getting some points, which we did, and we avoided that zero.”

However, we didn’t want to cross that line, which was our intention.

Eight players in Tomokino’s squad made their World Cup debut against England, with some members taking unpaid leave from their jobs.

The best chance to score a first try in the tournament since 2014 might be in a final game against the United States on Saturday in York.

Tomokino continued, “We need more rugby in Samoa, we need to play in a professional competition,” adding that would help.

“Our players are dispersed all over the world,” he says.