England Women have strolled to victory in their opening Rugby League World Cup group game, defeating Wales 70-6.

Seven tries in the first half and six in the second saw Stuart Barrow’s side get off to the best possible start, as a number of players impressed.

The boss opted to start Isabel Rowe and Georgia Roche in the halves, with Woman of Steel Jenna Foubister named among the bench. Heritage players Jasmin Strange and Hope Millard made their debuts for the country, with the former scoring a try on her maiden international bow.

Huddersfield winger Amelia Brown opened the scoring, before former England player Paige Travis levelled the game for Wales minutes later. From there, it was complete dominance from the Lionesses, as Georgia Wilson, Connie Boyd (twice), Hollie-Mae Dodd, Anna Davies and Rowe gave their side a 40-6 lead at the break.

Strange’s debut score opened the second-half points with Rowe’s second try coming after that. A wonder try from Brown with 13 to go sealed her brace, as she ran from try line to try line in an exceptional 100m score. Rowe’s conversion gave England a 56-6 lead.

Boyd’s third try was followed by two quick scores from Davies, meaning that both those players completed their hat-trick. Rowe’s final conversion gave England a 70-6 victory and an incredible start to their Rugby League World Cup campaign.

England Women v Wales Rugby League World Cup talking points

Rowe equals record as England dominant:

Half-back Rowe earned a piece of individual history, equalling the most points scored by any player in an England Women’s match.

With two tries and nine conversions, the Wigan star amassed a total of 26 points, joining Natalie Gilmour in being the player to rack up the most points in an individual game.

Gilmour’s 26-point haul came in 2013, as England downed France 54-0 in the 2013 World Cup.

Broadcast blunder:

Premier Sports’ coverage of England’s World Cup campaign got off to a horror start, with the broadcaster having issues showing the feed from Australia.

Premier blamed issues down under for the error, and after three minutes of no footage, video eventually emerged leaving the studio quartet in Megan Wellens, Emily Rudge, Kevin Brown and Leon Pryce needing to play the role of commentator.

In that time, Amelia Brown crossed for England’s opening try on the left edge before full footage resumed in time to see Paige Travis level the scores after 10 minutes.

The likes of Izzy Rowe and Jena Foubister have rightly received praise for their talent at such a young age, and they will continue to grow, but England have a new wonderkid in their ranks in Connie Boyd.

A hat-trick hero, the Leeds Rhinos centre has had an emphatic rise in such a short space of time. Making her Rhinos debut just last year, injury to Caitlin Beevers meant she spent all of 2025 and 2026 as Leeds’ starting three-quarter.

Playing 32 games under Lois Forsell, she has scored 18 tries in that time, and having picked up the club’s Player of the Year award, she was rewarded with Super League’s Young Player of the Year trophy at the end of season awards.

The 20-year-old has now excelled on international debut, and with still plenty of improvement to be done, it’s fair to say both Leeds and England have another future star on their hands.

Wales continue to make history:

Travis’ aforementioned try was actually the nation’s first in a Rugby League World Cup.

Having qualified for the tournament for the first time ever, history will continue to be made as they compete across the competition.

Travis is a former England representative, but is one of a few big-name players to join the nation ahead of the World Cup. NRLW star Tayla Preston was another who switched allegiances.

With this year’s World Cup adopting the rules of the NRL and NRLW respectively, it means that a key rule change has actually worked in England’s benefit.

In the Women’s Super League, games are 80 minutes in length, but here, they are only 70. What that means is the UK-based players are used to playing for longer, something that will come in handy when the physicality battle comes into effect against the bigger nations such as Australia and Samoa.

Whilst boss Stuart Barrow will need to alter his substitution tactics, players have the chance to play more intensely and with more energy as they know their stint won’t be as long.

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