England’s World Cup preparations continued with a scrappy 52-14 victory over the USA Eagles which made the Red Roses the first tier-one nation to win 24 games in a row – a blistering statistic to have five weeks out from the tournament in New Zealand.
The stat will add to England’s tag of being favourites to win the trophy. Simon Middleton said he was using the USA game as a “discovery match” for the World Cup squad selection, released on 20 September.
The match-day 23 largely had impressive performances, giving Middleton a good problem when it comes to cutting the squad to 32.
The match began with sustained USA pressure but Ellie Kildunne ripped the ball to give England a foothold. A Red Roses five metre scrum followed not long after and England dominated with scrum-half Natasha Hunt peeling away and crashing over.