Red Roses in rampant Rugby World Cup start
The weekend has barely begun and there has already been some fantastic sport on display.
New Zealand is the only place to start, as the biggest ever Women’s Rugby World Cup got underway, and the tournament favourites are wearing the red rose of England.
After France cruised past South Africa in the opening match, England took on the flair of Fiji. Claudia MacDonald and Amy Cokayne gave England an early 10-0 lead before Abbie Ward completed a powerful team drive.
The Fijians responded with a typically flamboyant try. Helena Rowland restored calm for the Red Roses but another Fiji score kept them surprisingly close at 14-24 at half-time.
After the break, however, England underlined their billing as the team to beat, running in another ten tries, with MacDonald claiming four in total. The final score of 84-19 will send quivers through the rest of the tournament.
Australia take on New Zealand today and there is a home nations cracker overnight, as Wales face Scotland in a 5.45am kick-off, UK time.
Back home, Wembley was the place to be on Friday night, as European champions England beat World champions USA 2-1 in front of more than 76,000 fans.
Thankfully, the game lived up to the expectation, as both teams served up a thrilling encounter. Lauren Hemp slipped into a new role as striker and gave England the lead on ten minutes before the USA responded with an equaliser from Sophia Smith.
The decisive moment arrived on the half-hour, when a high boot on Lucy Bronze was deemed worthy of a penalty after a VAR check. Georgia Stanway calmly rolled the winning spot-kick into the bottom corner.
The chances kept on flowing for both sides in the second period and the USA were left frustrated when they were denied a penalty for handball following another VAR check.
Victory for England and manager Sarina Wiegman told ITV Sport: "That was really intense, just what we wanted. USA played as we expected, they gave us hard times sometimes. I thought we played well in moments, better first half than second."
The sporting action continued in Rotherham, where England’s Lauren Parker, fighting in just the eighth bout of her pro career, defeated Mexico’s Edna Malto to claim the IBO intercontinental super-flyweight title.
And finally, Britain’s Chelsie Giles picked up a silver medal at the World Judo Championships in Uzbekistan.
