Red Roses rampant in World Cup opener

England showed why they are the favourites to take the Women's World Cup Rugby title with an utterly dominant performance over the USA in the opening match of the tournament on Friday night.

Playing in front of a record 42,000 spectators at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, the hosts blew their opponents away, outscoring them by 11 tries to one and running out 69-7 winners. Three England players - Jess Breach, and Lark Atkin-Davies Ellie Kildunne - bagged two tries each, with Kildunne the outstanding Red Roses' player on the night. 

England opened the scoring, taking a 14-0 lead with 20 minutes gone, but within five minutes the USA narrowed the gap to seven. That was the closest the Americans would get though and with the USA reduced to 14 players for 10 minutes, the Red Rose made the most of their temporary numerical superiority to finish the half with a 28-7 lead.   

The second period became something of a rout. Despite having plenty of possession, the Americans just couldn't find a way through as the Red Roses scored steadily to add a further 41 points. 

Speaking to the BBC after the match, the England Head Coach made it clear that this is only the start for the Red Roses with the focus firmly on further improvement. 

There's so much more growth left in us...I think we'll get better in terms of flow and movement and there were some really good signs tonight. 

John Mitchell, England Head Coach

England will face Samoa on Saturday 30th August and Australia on Saturday 6th September in their remaining Pool A games.

Next up though is the clash between the other two home nations in the opening Pool B game today. Scotland and Wales go head-to-head at the Salford Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Watch the highlights of last night's game here: