England score 11 tries to overcome Wales

Wales (0) 0

England (22) 62

Isabel Rowe turned in a starring performance as England proved too strong for Wales in a women’s rugby league international at The Gnoll in Neath.

Wigan half-back Rowe, 18, scored one of England’s 11 tries and converted nine of them as Stuart Barrow’s side won convincingly in their first international since being thrashed 90-4 by Australia in Las Vegas in March.

Barrow named five debutants in his starting line-up, and two of them – Jenna Foubister and Molly Jones – scored tries in the opening 10 minutes.

Anna Davies – who scored five times when England earned their biggest-ever win by beating Wales 82-0 at Headingley last November – then went over, and a score from Lucy Murray, a third debutant, had the visitors 22-0 up at the interval.

Eva Hunter, also making her debut, scored twice after half-time, with Rowe getting her try.

England and Wales will both compete at the Women’s Rugby League World Cup in Australia in October 2026.

Wales head coach Thomas Brindle – who saw his side beat Scotland 18-12 last weekend – believes his team are making progress as they prepare for that tournament.

“I’m massively proud of the effort of the girls. They’ve worked really hard. The things we’ve worked on, they’ve done, which I’m really happy with, because it shows we’ve got loads of potential,” he told S4C.

England were looking for a response as they seek to rebuild following their chastening experience in Vegas.

Head coach Barrow has started looking to the future, with a new-look side taking to the field in Neath.

They had to show defensive strength to keep Wales to nil – with Grace Banks making a superb tackle to deny Charlie Mundy late in the first half.

“Obviously, we’ve been and played Australia recently and it didn’t go very favourably. We’ve learned a lot of lessons from that,” Barrow told S4C.

“But now our player pool is developing and our competition is getting better here and we’re producing all those young players like you see, and mixing that with a blend of the experienced players.