England head coach John Mitchell says there is more to come from his side following their 69-7 opening Women’s Rugby World Cup win against the United States.
The Red Roses kicked off the tournament in front of a record-breaking crowd of 42,723 at the Stadium of Light, scoring 11 tries.
“It was a fantastic atmosphere, to represent your country in the opening match,” Mitchell said. “I think we built into the performance slowly and lifted our intensity in the second half.
“We’ve only just got started and there’s a lot of growth left in us.”
Red Roses full-back Ellie Kildunne put in an impressive display to be named player of the match
“I really enjoyed the way the girls built pressure on USA. We forced their negativity, I guess, and then we took advantage of that.”
As well as notching their first points of the World Cup, victory also extended England’s winning run to 28 games in total.
The second half proved to be a particularly ruthless display from the Red Roses against a team ranked 10th in the world.
“Firstly, we’re the Red Roses. Even before my time they’ve set outstanding standards,” he said.
“We’re in a fortunate position, we’re also grateful to have great depth. We’re constantly creating pressure.
Loosehead prop Hannah Botterman was another standout performer and among the try scorers
“The girls are extremely driven and don’t like to be beaten, like anyone, they don’t like to fail.
“Our training standards are very high and it’s up to us as leaders to make sure that we maintain that on a daily basis.
“That’s in our control, we can’t control outside of that. We can’t control where teams are ranked, we’ve just got to deal with what we’re confronted with.
“As I said earlier in the week, we’re hunted and we love being hunted. Every team’s going to rise physically and mentally 10 or 15 per cent, we expect that, but we’re also going to grow as well.”
Ellie Kildunne put in a particularly-impressive shift across the back three and Mitchell also praised England’s scrum, adding that there were still areas to improve.
He said: “It’s good to see Ellie back on the field, doing what she loves doing. She’s very intuitive and her skillset was very good tonight.
Kildunne, 2024’s world player of the year, scored twice as well as assisting twice at the Stadium of Light
“That’s an individual, but then you’ve got to go and look at some of the effort areas by other players and also the scrum was outstanding tonight.
“The scrum buried USA. Numerous penalties probably could have sent some players to the bin as well because of continued negativity in that area.
“We’ll just go where we can apply pressure, if it has to be in the scrum.
“You can’t just always rely on individuals and as this tournament progresses, we’re going to have to get even better in our connections and working together.”
What’s next?
England play their second Pool A fixture against Samoa on Saturday August 30 at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens (5pm).
The USA’s second Rugby World Cup Pool A clash comes against Australia in York on Saturday August 30 (7.30pm).
The redesigned Women’s Rugby World Cup trophy awaits its next champion – but who will claim it in 2025?
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 schedule
Pool stage
Pool A
August 22: England 69-7 United States – Sunderland
August 23: Australia vs Samoa – Salford, 12pm
August 30: England vs Samoa – Northampton, 5pm
August 30: United States vs Australia – York, 7.30pm
September 6: United States vs Samoa – York, 1.30pm
September 6: England vs Australia – Brighton, 5pm
Pool B
August 23: Scotland vs Wales – Salford, 2.45pm
August 23: Canada vs Fiji – York, 5.30pm
August 30: Canada vs Wales – Salford, 12pm
August 30: Scotland vs Fiji – Salford, 2.45pm
September 6: Canada vs Scotland – Exeter, 12pm
September 6: Wales vs Fiji – Exeter, 2.45pm
Pool C
August 24: Ireland vs Japan – Northampton, 12pm
August 24: New Zealand vs Spain – York, 5.30pm
August 31: Ireland vs Spain – Northampton, 12pm
August 31: New Zealand vs Japan – Exeter, 2pm
September 7: Japan vs Spain – York, 12pm
September 7: New Zealand vs Ireland – Brighton, 2.45pm
Pool D
August 23: France vs Italy – Exeter, 8.15pm
August 24: South Africa vs Brazil – Northampton, 2.45pm
August 31: Italy vs South Africa – York, 3.30pm
August 31: France vs Brazil – Exeter, 4.45pm
September 7: Italy vs Brazil – Northampton, 2pm
September 7: France vs South Africa – Northampton, 4.45pm
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