"Half of Samoa's squad had to fundraise to be able to attend this Rugby World Cup, with no contracts in place, and some have taken unpaid leave from their jobs to represent their country. England, on the other hand, have been a professional outfit for more than five years and have now swept aside their opponents in 59 of their last 60 matches, that one loss coming in the last World Cup final."
"Among the try scorers was the wing Jess Breach, who was the hat-trick heroine, but the first try was a special one for the 27-year-old as it was her 50th for her country. The centre Meg Jones got on the board twice, and had not been in the starting XV at the beginning of this week, but an injury to Emily Scarratt saw her promoted. The Cardiff-born centre's contributions across the pitch were outstanding as her prowess in an England shirt only grows."
England produced a dominant, physical performance to defeat Samoa decisively, with 11 Red Roses sharing 14 tries and securing a quarter-final place with a pool game to spare. Samoa's squad faced financial and contractual challenges, with half the players fundraising and some taking unpaid leave to attend the tournament. England entered the match as an established professional side with an overwhelming recent record, having won 59 of their last 60 games. Jess Breach scored a hat-trick and reached 50 international tries, while Meg Jones scored twice after being promoted due to injury. Rain affected handling, but England wrapped up a bonus point early through powerful forward play.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]