Women's Rugby World Cup

By that stage, the crowd is expected to swell to a capacity 40 000, a record for any women's rugby match. Six Nations champions England left little doubt they ...

Claudia MacDonald scored four tries and Amy Cokayne and Lydia Thompson two apiece, with Abbie Ward, Helena Rowland, Zoe Aldcroft, Abby Dow, Leanne Infante and ...

England started brightly and after hooker Cokayne had crossed in the eighth minute, lock Ward (18) and winger MacDonald (27) had them in the clear before Fiji responded with a try of their own from Alowesi Nakoci (31). However, they scored 10 tries after the break to make sure of a dominant start to the competition in New Zealand. The Red Roses assured themselves of a bonus point in the first half but they led only 24-14 at the game’s midway point.

England underlined their status as Women's Rugby World Cup favourites by thrashing tournament debutants Fiji 84-19 in their opening game.

Cokayne went over for a second time less than two minutes after the resumption, winger Thompson crossed twice (50 and 53) and MacDonald claimed three more tries (56, 70 and 76). England started brightly and after hooker Cokayne had crossed in the eighth minute, lock Ward (18) and winger MacDonald (27) had them in the clear before Fiji responded with a try of their own from Alowesi Nakoci (31). Claudia MacDonald scored four tries and Amy Cokayne and Lydia Thompson two apiece, with Abbie Ward, Helena Rowland, Zoe Aldcroft, Abby Dow, Leanne Infante and Connie Powell also crossing in the Pool C opener.

Preparing to face Italy in the Eagles' opener, the Saracens pair say the women's game is ready to take a big step forward.

[wants](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/04/red-roses-the-team-to-beat-in-world-cup-that-could-redefine-rugby) the World Cup in New Zealand to be the “start of the next stage of the growth and transformation of the game”. “But everyone is thinking and wanting and working as hard as they can to be on that podium and in the gold-medal game. Everybody’s ready, and everybody’s going to get behind women’s rugby, which is a really exciting place to be.” Four school girls had everybody in tears by the end, with the poem they had written for us. I know I’m extremely lucky to be in this position and to still have a job to go back to when this is all over.” She also says it feels like the Eagles have had a “a fresh start” after the disruption of the pandemic. We got a lot from the Scotland game, a lot of confidence from it. The Canadian World Cup squad contains eight players who play in England. It’s pushing women’s rugby and making it a lot better.” After Covid, we’ve had so much time to think about the macro picture, like what we want to do, that now it’s about refining the micro pictures with the people around us.” “I was teaching at school on Wednesday and then flying to a World Cup on Thursday. “The school have given me this time off to come and play in the World Cup.

England 84-19 Fiji: Ten tries after the restart ensured the perfect opening in Aukland for the Red Roses.

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England head coach Simon Middleton said it was natural for his side to be awed by the occasion of playing in the women's Rugby World Cup, and praised his ...

“Fiji certainly came to the party in the first half and made it really difficult for us, which we expected,” Middleton told reporters after the win. We looked really nervous and that’s understandable because this is the biggest stage and what a place to play. So really pleased with how we got composed and executed the game plan.”

Fiji played a high-tempo game and only trailed by 10 points at half-time. But the Red Roses' professionalism shone as they scored 10 tries ...

If you had to pick a winner among the 14 tries, the 10th would be up there. But it is hard to find much fault in a team that scored a try every four minutes in the second half, with Leanne Infante and Connie Powell also adding their names to the scoresheet before the 80 minutes were up. ['They rattled us' - reaction to England's win](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/rugby-union/57276645) [Why England are favourites to win World Cup](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63170766) [World Cup schedule and BBC coverage](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63170905) Abby Dow, who completed her unlikely return from a broken leg in six months to get to New Zealand, scored to the delight of her team-mates and coaches. A loose ball led to a try for Lydia Thompson and the wing then finished off a well-worked team score before MacDonald claimed a second. Fiji continued to show individual brilliance as Sesenieli Donu faked a pass and sliced through four England defenders for a second try before the break. The two main talking points before the opening day had been that it is the biggest women's World Cup ever and that England are favourites to win. England may not be able to rely so strongly on that tactic against stronger opponents like France and New Zealand and retired World Cup winner Katy Daley-Mclean questioned during the week whether the Red Roses have a plan B. Fiji brought the same amount of intensity to the first half of their World Cup debut as they did emotion to the national anthem. England have never scored more tries or points in a World Cup match and extend their record winning run to 26 Tests. Auckland's Eden Park was sold out for the opening day, with an attendance of 34,235 surpassing the record for a women's World Cup match of 20,000 set in 2014. Favourites England opened their World Cup with a dominant second-half showing to claim a record 14-try win against debutants Fiji.

Tournament hot favourites England crushed Fiji 84-19 at Eden Park in Auckland after fellow European powerhouses France outclassed South Africa 40-5.

"Australia put us under the pump right from the start. "We're in a mythical stadium, maybe a little bit of pressure to be in a magnificent stadium like this and it's the first match," she said. In the opening game of the tournament, France started and finished strongly in a victory based around the class of their halves pairing.

Tournament favourites England crushed Fiji 84-19 at Eden Park in Auckland after fellow European powerhouses France outclassed South Africa 40-5. Then a world- ...

“Australia put us under the pump right from the start. France captain Celine Ferer said her side may have been daunted by the occasion. Thompson admitted it had been a sluggish first half by England’s high standards. “We’re in a mythical stadium, maybe a little bit of pressure to be in a magnificent stadium like this and it’s the first match,” she said. In the opening game of the tournament, France started and finished strongly in a victory based around the class of their halves pairing. England and France romped to big wins while hosts New Zealand survived a mighty scare on Saturday in front of a record crowd on the opening day of the women’s Rugby World Cup.

Winger Claudia MacDonald scored four tries as favourites England opened their Women's Rugby World Cup campaign with an 84-19 rout of Fiji at Auckland's Eden ...

We looked really nervous and that's understandable because this is the biggest stage and what a place to play. "Fiji really rattled us in the first half, they were very physical. "Fiji certainly came to the party in the first half and made it really difficult for us, which we expected," Middleton said.

Springbok women's coach Stanley Raubenheimer was not despondent following SA's opening loss against France at the Women's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

"We have the team, I am convinced that we can compete against any team any day, but to eliminate the small areas of uncertainty and error will take time. "Our maul was great, though and I thought we would be rewarded when we had three strong drives at the line, but that did not happen on this occasion. We need to cut that out because it is holding us back from being amongst the best teams," she continued. "We stood up to France today and, at times, dominated them. Our finishing was also not the best, with a number of opportunities going astray. We allowed them too many soft opportunities and that was frustrating.

Star scrum-half Laure Sansus crossed twice as France beat a stubborn South Africa 40-5 in the opening match of the women's Rugby World Cup in Auckland on ...

[South Africa](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/south-africa/) had the better of the middle stages, despite a yellow card shown to flanker Sizophila Solontsi. France are among the leading contenders to win the ninth edition of the tournament, which opened under sunny skies for the first leg of a triple-header. Star scrum-half Laure Sansus crossed twice as France beat a stubborn South Africa 40-5 in the opening match of the women's Rugby World Cup in Auckland on Saturday.

Star scrum half Laure Sansus scored twice on Saturday as France beat South Africa 40-5 in the opening match of the women's rugby World Cup in Auckland.

On Sunday, at the Northlands Events Centre in Whangarei, the USA kick off their Pool B campaign with a match against Italy. [2022 women's Six Nations](https://www.world.rugby/news/678700/everything-you-need-to-know-about-womens-six-nations-2022) tournament in Europe, scored her second try in the 68th minute. Star scrum half Laure Sansus scored twice on Saturday as France beat South Africa 40-5 in the opening match of the women's rugby World Cup in Auckland.

Star scrum-half Laure Sansus crossed twice as France beat a stubborn South Africa 40-5 in the opening match of the women's Rugby World Cup in Auckland on ...

England, France and hosts New Zealand all started their World Cup campaigns with strong wins on the opening day at Eden Park.

The try was uncovered. Scarratt managed to convert two of the four tries. Despite South Africa trying to get a foothold in the game, France scored again in the 17th minute through wing Emilie Boulard for a converted try to take the score to 19-0

The Red Roses only led 24-14 at half-time but ran riot in the second period, scoring an additional 10 tries at Eden Park. AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER ...

England have such a margin for error that those mistakes did not matter. Rattled somewhat by Fiji in the opening 40 minutes, a 24-14 half-time scoreline suggested some nerves. Fiji 19-84 England (Tries: Nakoci, Donu, Cavuru; Cons: Cavuru 2