England 72 – 4 Brazil

Courtney Winfield-Hill and Amy Hardcastle both score hat-tricks to help England to convincing opening win; 14 tries in total gave England a 72-4 victory; Natalia Momberg makes history by scoring Brazil’s first ever Rugby League World Cup try

England celebrate a 72-4 win against Brazil in their opening Rugby League World Cup match

England ran in 14 tries in their opening Women’s Rugby League World Cup match as they secured a resounding 72-4 victory over Brazil at Headingley.

The host nation came out to an electric atmosphere and they did not disappoint in the first half, asserting their dominance with seven tries, Caitlin Beevers opening up the scoring to a roaring crowd after just a few minutes.

Doubles from Tara Jane Stanley and Courtney-Winfield Hill, including a stunning solo effort from the half-back, helped England to a secure 34-0 lead at half time.

The second half saw England come out with the same intensity as the first and saw Hardcastle and Winfield-Hill bag their hat-tricks before Leah Burke, Tara Jones and Olivia Wood joined the scoring to give England a 72-4 win in the first match of Group A.

Story of the match

It was a noisy crowd in Leeds for the first game of the women’s tournament, with the stands packed with schoolchildren ready to cheer on the home nation, and they were rewarded after just two minutes, Beevers flying over in the corner to get her side’s World Cup tally under way.

Caitlin Beevers crosses for England’s first try against Brazil

England then continued to make impressive metres and after just six minutes a replica of Beevers’ opening effort came, this time through Stanley.

They home nation had to wait just 10 minutes for their next chance as, after a bruising run from Hardcastle, Winfield-Hill dummied and went over for a stunning solo effort to make it 12-0 before following it up with a second on the 23-minute mark.

Brazil had a big opportunity in the second quarter, but Leticia Medeiros was held up over the line and with the opportunity gone, England reasserted their dominance and went back up the other end of the field, Grace Field scoring from the bench after a lovely break from Tara Jones.

Grace Field was a force in the forwards as England asserted their dominance

After a first half of sheer dominance in the forwards, Hardcastle was rewarded with just three minutes left, going over off the back of a powerful run before Stanley crossed in the corner for her second to make it 34-0 at half-time.

England came out for the second half with the same intensity as the first, Goldthorp finishing off a grubber kick from Roche before Hardcastle went barrelling over for her second to make it 44-0 after just 50 minutes.

After a sloppier 10 minutes from England, Brazil finally got their reward as Natalia Momberg broke down the left hand side to go diving in at the corner for her country’s first ever Rugby League World Cup try.

However, it was not long before England hit back as Jones went scampering in under the sticks, Stanley’s conversion giving England a 50-4 lead.

England then seriously upped the ante, Hardcastle fending off two down the left-hand side for her hat-trick before Burke bagged one in the corner to make it 60-4 with 10 minutes to go.

Despite a huge lead, England had more to give as Winfield-Hill went over for her third of the afternoon after another blistering run from Zoe Harris before Wood finished off proceedings, Stanley kicking her eighth conversion of the day to secure a resounding 72-4 victory for the hosts.

What’s next?

England women head to Wigan’s DW Stadium on Saturday for their second Group A match against Canada in a double-header with England men who face Papua New Guinea in their quarter-final match up.