Too quick, too powerful, too connected. The mighty England did what was expected in their second RWC 2025 outing.
Story of the match
England were immediately into their stride, making light of the wet conditions to show off an all-round game that has now delivered 59 wins in their past 60 tests. And it was centre Megan Jones, already looking like a tournament standout, who grabbed the first after just three minutes, with her second coming soon after.
Sandwiched in-between Jess Breach produced a finish fitting for a 50th international try, dancing round the Samoa defence to notch her half-century.
At 40-0 after 30 minutes, the floodgates appeared to be open but much to the delight of the capacity crowd, Samoa showed real fight. First, only some desperate scramble defence stopped the Manusina from completing a length-of-the-field try and then came arguably the loudest cheer of the day, as Harmony Vatau slotted over Samoa’s first ever Rugby World Cup just after half-time.
But it takes more than that to rattle this England side and they soon reasserted their authority. A sweet combination of forward power and fleet-footed pace delivered a further seven tries after the break – including three for Breach and a remarkable 27 points for back-up fly-half Helena Rowland.
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