Brown scores stunner as England thrash debutants Wales

Emma Smith
BBC Sport journalist

England (40) 70

Tries: Boyd 3, Davies 3, Brown 2, Rowe 2, Wilson, Dodd, Strange Goals: Rowe 9

Wales (6) 6

Try: Travis Goal: Preston

For a moment, when Paige Travis bundled over the line to spark wild celebrations, Wales were in dreamland.

On their Women's World Cup debut, they had scored against England, taking advantage of multiple English errors to deservedly pull level inside the opening 10 minutes.

Wales could dream of causing a major upset. By half-time, though, England had thoroughly disabused Wales of that notion.

The shock of conceding against a team they had scored 114 points against without reply in two previous meetings brought renewed focus to Stu Barrow's England team, who are aiming to reach a World Cup final for the first time.

They scored seven tries before the break and 13 in total on their way to a comprehensive 70-6 victory in Perth in their Group A opener.

Wing Anna Davies and debutant Connie Boyd scored hat-tricks in Perth, while Izzy Rowe scored two tries and kicked nine conversions for 26 points - equalling the record for the most points by an individual England player in a Women's World Cup match.

"You can't keep a clean sheet every game, but I thought the response after was really positive." England coach Barrow told his post-match media conference.

"It's a new group with new combinations and timings. Once we settled in after 10 minutes we played nice football.

"I am pleased we did 70 to 80% of what I looked for."

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While Wales provided threat going forwards, in defence they provided little resistance as England's powerful attack pierced through with frightening ease.

A slick move after three minutes of this Group A match resulted in Amelia Brown scoring the England opener, before Wales got their time in the sun.

A series of England errors allowed Wales to apply pressure, and they deservedly scored through Travis - who represented England at the World Cup four years ago.

The shock concession brought England focus, and a well-constructed move ended in Georgia Wilson scoring in the corner.

From then, England were motoring.

Hollie-Mae Dodd's drive and offload ended in Boyd scoring her first, before Dodd deservedly got on the scoresheet herself, following up after Fran Goldthorp was held up on the line.

On 27 minutes, a quick move of the ball through hands to the left allowed Boyd to power through, before Davies ran more than half the length of the field to score under the posts.

Rowe got a try of her own before the interval, making it 40-6 at half-time.

The heavy scoring continued after the break.

Another debutant, Jasmin Strange - one of two heritage players not born in England - also bagged her first try, before Rowe rolled over her second.

The match was summed up by England's 10th try, when a promising Wales attack involved a chipped kick to the corner, but the bounce went kindly for Brown behind her own try line.

Brown raced 109 metres up to the other end to score one of the longest-range tries in women's rugby league history, and thoroughly demoralise Wales.

Boyd and Davies wrapped it up with three tries in the final five minutes.

When England and Wales met for the first time, at Headingley in 2024, England won 82-0 in a match which could be best described as women against girls.

Two years down the line, they took to the field as teams who had each earned their spot on the World Cup stage - but England showed why they remain by far the more dominant force.

England will now look ahead to facing co-hosts Australia next Saturday. They suffered a 90-4 hammering in Las Vegas in their most recent meeting in 2025.

Barrow said that was in the past for England and lessons had been learned. He will now give that game his full attention after admitting he and the team were more concerned with dinner than Australia's opening win against Samoa on Friday.

"We watched Australia with half an eye; our focus was all about today and we were as a group," he said.

"Our focus now switches to that, so that game will be on at the hotel when we get back, I will watch it properly then.

"There's lots of work to do this week, we are looking forward to the challenge."

In Saturday's other women's game, co-hosts Papua New Guinea defeated France 58-4 in Group B.

Intensity catches up with Wales

Paige Travis celebratesGetty Images

Paige Travis scored Wales' first Rugby League World Cup try

Philip Marsh
BBC Sport Wales

It was always going to be a difficult Rugby League World Cup debut for Wales, who had lost their previous two games against England by a combined score of 144-0.

Captain Bethan Dainton had said in the build-up to the tournament they wanted to remain competitive despite only having played 13 international games as a nation.

And for the opening quarter of an hour in Perth they were exactly that, and will have been delighted when Paige Travis crossed for Wales' first ever Rugby League World Cup try.

But the intensity soon caught up with Wales, who by the half-hour mark looked exhausted compared to their opponents, who never showed signs of stopping.

And as the game wore on, the gulf between the two sides became more evident, with England running in three tries in the final minutes to put an exclamation point on their win.

But head coach Tom Brindle will take positives from the game, and in the long run Wales will benefit for the experience of competing at a World Cup despite the heavy defeats they will encounter along the way.

Next up for Wales is Samoa on Friday, a game which on paper serves as their best chance at picking up a result, having also been drawn in Pool A alongside reigning world champions Australia.

Matt's player of the match - Izzy Rowe

Izzy Rowe prepares to kick the ballSWPix

Izzy Rowe scored two tries and kicked a further 18 points

Matt Newsum
BBC Sport Rugby League journalist

It's sometimes easy to pick halves for player of the match because they have so many touches of the ball, but Rowe has put women's rugby league on notice with a display that shows her immense talent.

She combined brilliantly with her back-rower Jasmin Strange on numerous occasions and scored two tries of her own - linking up well with Georgia Roche and then Jenna Foubister when she came on.

Georgia Wilson, Hollie-Mae Dodd, Amelia Brown and Connie Boyd also put their hands up, but Rowe's control was such that she just nudges it.

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