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There is a famous scene in the Netflix documentary Sunderland ‘Til I Die in which executive director Charlie Methven is appealing for ideas to improve the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light.

“This is how I’d do it if I was DJ,” he tells a group of nonplussed staff as dance music strains at his laptop speakers.

“We want it to be rocking in there, a little bit mad… a bit noisier, a bit more in-your-face.”

Turns out he just needed a few more cowboy hats. And thumping victories never do any harm either.

The Red Roses came to town and delivered both. Their 69-7 thrashing of the United States happened in front of a 42,723 crowd – the biggest at any Women’s Rugby World Cup match anywhere ever – who revelled in the team’s 28th straight victory.

After pop star Anne-Marie, surrounded by pyrotechnics and whirling dancers’ limbs, had completed the pre-match show, it took only three minutes for the first chorus of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot to ring around the stands.

For the most part, England’s wheels turned as smoothly and slickly as usual.

Ellie Kildunne, the reigning World Player of the Year whose dazzling feet and down-to-earth charm have made her the face of the tournament in England, lived up to that billing.

The full-back made 153 metres and five clean breaks, scored two tries and laid on two for her team-mates in a player-of-the-match performance.

To many first-time viewers of this England team, it was a sight to behold.

None of what occurred will be news to head coach John Mitchell, however. He will be looking more closely at the fine detail of his team, rather than Kildunne’s well-known headline-grabbing abilities.

The neat dovetailing of Tatyana Heard and Megan Jones – a centre partnership that combines power, pace and nous – will have been particularly pleasing.

Jones made perhaps the tackle of the match, marching Lotte Sharp at pace and drawing winces from the stands.

Her break, followed by Heard’s quick hands, set up Abby Dow’s score just after half-time.

It is difficult to see veteran Emily Scarratt, who arrived off the bench in the second half, edging her way back into a first-choice pairing any time soon.

Loose-head Hannah Botterman raged around in the loose and stole a prime turnover off the floor, perhaps inspired by the chance to show up United States’ Hope Rogers who was picked in World Rugby’s Team of the Year in her position.

Sadia Kabeya buzzed with energy in the back row, while fly-half Zoe Harrison’s kicking for posts was superb.

With Emma Sing, the squad’s most impressive off the tee, on the bench and the small change potentially crucial in the knockout rounds, it is an area where high standards must be maintained.

The driving maul is still a trump card and the neat off-the-top variation that gave hooker Amy Cokayne her try will have opponents second-guessing themselves afresh.

The scrum was dominant, especially in the early exchanges.

However there is room for improvement.

Some of the intricacies, tip-on passes in midfield particularly, went astray. Better teams will bring more line speed and pressure to bear on those skills.

Jess Breach scored two tries but won’t want to watch the way she was shrugged off by Erica Jarrell-Searcy for the United States’ score.

There were some slack kick-off receptions and Mitchell believed his team, who were only seven points up until Maud Muir crossed after 34 minutes in the wake of Alev Kelter’s yellow, could have been more clinical in the first half.

“We challenged them around lifting the intensity in the second half and I thought we lifted it well,” Mitchell said.

“We want to build pressure and square up a little bit more in our defence.

“All the threats that came at us were the ones we expected. There’s a lot we need to do, we only just got started.

“There is so much growth to come. We will get better. The tournament will get harder but we have so much left in us.”

It will get harder, but the crowds won’t get any bigger unless England make it all the way to the final at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on 27 September.

Samoa at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens will be followed by Australia at Brighton’s Amex Stadium in England’s pool campaign, before possible quarter and semi-finals at Bristol’s Ashton Gate.

Kildunne paid back some of the love that came her way afterwards.

“The fans definitely made a statement, you made that one really special. Thank you to everybody that came, having rugby in the north is pretty special as well,” she said.

“It’s a really good start and it is just the start.”

“West Ham is not a club that panics about its managers. We tend to stick with them, tend to support people, and see it through.”

Those were the words of Hammers vice-chair Karren Brady following the 3-0 loss to newly promoted Sunderland in their Premier League opener.

The club’s hierarchy and fans wanted a reaction against Chelsea on Friday. What they got instead was a 5-1 thrashing at home that was met with boos at the final whistle.

That was from some of those still inside the London Stadium, with many supporters opting instead to leave long before the game was over.

No manager should really be under pressure after just two games, but it is hard to excuse his side’s disappointing performances – and defend Potter’s record in charge since he replaced Julen Lopetegui in January.

He has won just five of his 21 games so far and, having conceded three against Sunderland, West Ham have shipped eight goals across their first two games of a top-flight campaign for the first time ever.

Potter is also the first Hammers manager in Premier League history to fail to get into double figures for points in his first 10 home games, taking just nine courtesy of two wins, three draws and five defeats.

The former Brighton and Chelsea boss knows he and the players have to do better, saying afterwards: “It’s the reality, but we’ve had a tough week.

West Ham made five signings in the summer, with highly rated full-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and former Newcastle striker Callum Wilson among those to arrive.

Despite that, there’s been little sign of improvement on the pitch.

Defensively they are proving extremely vulnerable from set-pieces, with three of the five goals they conceded against Chelsea coming from them – and Hermansen at fault for two as he struggled to deal with corners.

Captain Jarrod Bowen summed up the hurt inside the West Ham dressing room as he told Sky Sports: “Fuming. Disappointing. All the emotions that come with being on the back of conceding eight goals in two games and not picking up a point yet.

“I thought the goals were really cheap on our behalf. We didn’t really make them work for those three from set-pieces, which we’ve always prided ourselves on over the years and a couple more finishes inside the six-yard box.

“We gifted the goals away.”

Former West Ham and Chelsea goalkeeper Rob Green said on Sky Sports: “It was just so far from good enough.

“The goals they concede, how they’ve gone about it, the energy that’s not there in the side, and already you’re going to be worried.

It is of course very early to suggest that a relegation battle beckons for West Ham this season, but there’s no doubt it is a significant concern for many of their supporters right now.

With one goal scored and eight conceded, they are currently showing that worrying combination of struggling to score and letting in plenty, which does not bode well for aspirations of avoiding a season of struggle.

Up next is a trip to Nottingham Forest, before successive London derbies against Tottenham and Crystal Palace – all three tricky games in which West Ham will need to show considerable improvement from what they have so far.

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports: “If I’m Sunderland, Burnley, Leeds, I’m looking at West Ham and thinking, ‘they’re the ones, they’re the weakest team in the Premier League we’re going to catch’.

“That squad isn’t good enough. They haven’t got enough good players. That midfield just couldn’t get near, they didn’t have the legs to get around. They need to get someone with real legs.”

New faces can revitalise a squad low on confidence, but Potter did not suggest there will be many incomings before the transfer window closes on 1 September.

“I think it would be a bit obtuse of me to speak about signings when clearly we have to improve and do better with what we have,” he admitted.

“We need to do more than we are as a group and as always we will look to strengthen while the window is open.”

Potter knows he is under pressure, and how these next few weeks pan out – both in terms of results on the pitch and business in the transfer market – will have a big say on his future.

“You’re under pressure all the time in these jobs, in this situation, that’s how it is,” he added.

The potential of England’s forward pack is “scary” following a 69-7 opening Rugby World Cup win over the United States, says New Zealand World Cup winner Ruby Tui.

Six of the Red Roses’ 11 tries in Sunderland came through their forwards, with their scrum dominating for the entire game.

Head coach John Mitchell offered post-match praise but made it clear the front eight are still not playing to their full potential.

“What stood out for me as the scariest thing is that Mitchell said that ‘yes our forward pack did great but there is so much left in that tank’,” Tui told BBC One.

“I believe that. There is so much more that the Red Roses forward pack can give, which if you look at the first half with Hannah Botterman’s steals and how well Sadia Kabeya played, that is scary.

The fixture drew the highest crowd in Women’s Rugby World Cup history, a turnout of 42,723 beating the 42,579 who watched New Zealand – featuring Tui – win the final in 2022 at Eden Park.

Mitchell’s side showed early nerves at their first home World Cup since 2010, especially when dealing with the restart, with handling errors also proving costly in the first half, but ran in seven tries after a half-time reset.

“The second half was the England show,” added Tui. “It was a flying performance for three-quarters of the game and they lit up the Stadium of Light.

Former England captain and World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi sensed some frustration from Mitchell.

The Red Roses head coach confirmed he will rotate his squad for the second pool game against Samoa next Saturday so everyone has played, which could further affect cohesion.

“Mitchell is not happy with that performance,” Alphonsi told BBC One.

“He will take away that England were not accurate. They had six weeks together and didn’t really execute.

“It is interesting to see how he reacts as he will expect more from his second group when they come out against Samoa.

“They will want to put out a performance that shows what they can do as you have to build it up.”

England last became world champions in 2014 and are on a 28-game winning run, having not lost since the World Cup final defeat by New Zealand in 2022.

Simon Middleton, who was in charge of England for that showpiece game three years ago and the 2017 final loss to the Black Ferns, disagreed that Mitchell would be unhappy with the opening performance.

“I think Mitchell will be all right with that as it was a difficult game,” Middleton told BBC One.

“You train, train, train and it was a typical opening game of the World Cup. The biggest thing is that it looks like they have come out of it with no injuries, which is so important, particularly at half-back.

“I thought their discipline was fantastic. Games like that can get loose. I thought they were aggressive around the contact area.