England crush Women's World Cup debutants Wales

England scored seven tries before the break, and 13 in total on their way to a comprehensive victory over Wales in their Group A opener. Hat-trick hero Connie Boyd was one of three England debutants against Wales Tries: Boyd 3, Davies 3, Brown 2, Rowe 2, Wilson, Dodd, Strange Goals: Rowe 9 For a moment, when Paige Travis bundled over the line to spark wild celebrations, Wales were in dreamland. On their Women's World Cup debut, they had scored against England, taking advantage of multiple English errors to deservedly pull level inside the opening 10 minutes. Wales could dream of causing a major upset. By half-time, though, England had thoroughly disabused Wales of that notion.

The shock of conceding against a team they had scored 114 points against without reply in two previous meetings brought renewed focus to Stu Barrow's England team, who are aiming to reach a World Cup final for the first time. They scored seven tries before the break and 13 in total on their way to a comprehensive 70-6 victory in Perth in their Group A opener. Wing Anna Davies and debutant Connie Boyd scored hat-tricks in Perth, while Izzy Rowe scored two tries and kicked nine conversions for 26 points – equalling the record for the most points by an individual England player in a