Patchy England beat Australia to set up Scotland quarter-final

England (19) 47

Tries: Breach, Ward, Kabeya (2), Clifford (2), Bern Cons: Harrison (6)

Australia (7) 7

Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland will be played in England after a shaky opening performance in Australia.

In a match that included 30, 433 Brighton supporters, substitute prop Kelsey Clifford, Princess of Wales, and England men’s summer tour co-captain Jamie George, Flanker Sadia Kabeya and Kelsey Clifford both scored two tries, one of whom was present.

Ellie Kildunne and Hannah Botterman, both a hooker, were forced to leave with injuries, though. Botterman limped off with a back spasm, while Kildunne was knocked to the head. Both team members are on the front lines.

England’s winning streak now includes 30 matches, including a 2022 World Cup final defeat, which was a record-setting run.

However, those hoping to overthrow the title favorites’ seventh-place Wallaroos side will have hope with this performance.

On Sunday, September 14, England will face Scotland in the quarter-final in Bristol, with kickoff scheduled for 16:00 BST.

Before this game, England coach John Mitchell had questioned whether Australia, who would advance to the quarter-finals by avoiding a thrashing or by collecting a bonus point, would attempt to kick, contain, run, and attack.

They did both in the opening 30 minutes. and consequently outshined the hosts.

With Botterman going to ground at the scrum and Rosie Galligan spilling a line-out, England lost a penalty.

Australia fly-half Faitala Moleka found comfort between the hosts’ back three while refusing to be constrained by the Red Roses’ track record or reputation.

Adiana Talakai, a Wallaroos hooker, burrowed over after the sixth-minute drive to ensure early dominance displayed on the scoreboard.

Wing Jess Breach, who won her 50th cap, scampered in shortly after from Zoe Harrison’s outrageous miss to cut Australia’s 7-5 lead, but England’s discipline and drills remained slack.

The line-out failed, with three going off the rails in the first half, and Abbie Ward was pinged for a needless offside. Australia were able to shove a spanner into the spokes of their infamously potent driving maul when England did so safely.

One maul’s back placed for a woman, Amy Cokayne, who was trying to ground the ball, forced her to lose the ball as she did so.

Botterman, one of England’s most impressive players so far in the tournament, was forced to leave shortly afterward.

England’s situation couldn’t get any worse.

And it didn’t. After 32 minutes, Ward finally overcame some sluggish Australian goalline defense to make it 12-7.

As England returned to the rolling maul once more and eventually made one stick, Kabeya followed her over just before half-time.

However, it was flattering to have a half-time lead of 19-7. England had to make 69 tackles more than their opponents, compared to the 63% that Australia had had possessed.

Within five minutes of the restart, Natasha Hunt skillfully kicked ahead of a loose ball and popped the ball up for Kabeya to score her second try.

Kildunne left shortly after his head hit the ground heavily in a tackle. When shown on the big screen, she offered an uneasy smile as she watched the rest of the game from the bench.

England were 40-7 clear and out of sight thanks to two short-range tries from Clifford and an Australia yellow card of 14.

The main focus of the final quarter was an improbable England backline, with Holly Aitchison coming off the bench to replace Tatiana Heard and working alongside Zoe Harrison, with Australia well within the 75-point margin of defeat that would put them in danger of losing to them in the last eight.

Shortly after Sarah Bern sealed the try-scoring, which reduced England to 14 for the final ten minutes, an unexpected yellow card for that experiment slightly spoiled it.

Helena Rowland, who was a pace wing Maya Stewart, did a fantastic cameo in place of Kildunne, showing her bravery in attack and making a strong tackle.

Replacements: Clifford, Bern, Atkin-Davies, Clifford, Bern, Ives Campion, Feaunati, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland, and Atkins-Davies.

Australia: Halse, Stewart, Friedrichs, Pomare, Miller, Moleka, Wood, Kavoa, Talakai, Karpani, Leaney, Leonard, Duck, Marsters, Palu (c)

Amelia Luciano and Precious Pazani from Zimbabwe serve as assistant referees.