Red Roses power past South Africa into RWC Quarter-Final
The Red Roses beat South Africa 75-0 to top Pool C at the Rugby World Cup.
In their final pool game England ran in 13 tries at Waitakere Stadium, Auckland and extended their record-breaking run of Test wins to 28 in-a-row. They will meet Australia in the quarter-finals next week.
Simon Middleton's charges took the lead inside the opening five minutes, off the back of a trademark driving maul, that saw Rosie Galligan go over for her first international try. Harrison missed the conversion.
Springbok second row Catha Jacobs was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Poppy Cleall as the game entered a stagnant period, where both sides struggled to find continuity in attack.
Try number two came on 24 minutes courtesy of Cleall, who took a short and direct line off scrum half Lucy Packer five metres out. The Saracen bulldozing over the whitewash to give Harrison an easier conversion attempt, which was duly converted for a 12-0 lead.
The success upfront continued as South Africa struggled to cope with England's driving maul - Galligan's second score mirroring her first on the half hour mark, before Shaunagh Brown bagged the Red Roses' bonus-point in similar fashion. Harrison converted one.
Springbok captain Nolusindiso Booi was sent to the sin bin for her side's constant infringement at the maul, and England took immediate advantage at the next 10 metre lineout - same method and result, but different benefactor at the back in the shape of Connie Powell, whose unconverted try made it 29-0 at the break.
The half time stats proved how important England's set piece was, as South Africa boasted more defenders beaten, clean breaks and offloads, while the Red Roses made 118 more metres than their opponents.
The resumption of the match saw Powell go over for her second inside the opening minute - a carbon copy of her first - and fly half Harrison's extras opened up a 36-point lead.
Captaining England for the first time in 86 Tests, Marlie Packer combined beautifully with Cleall to claim the seventh try of the match (her 27th), before Galligan got on the scoresheet again - running in her hat-trick after some neat feet courtesy of Abby Dow and great awareness from Tatyana Heard saw the Quin canter over. Another Harrison conversion made it 48-0.
Cleall crossed for her second on the hour mark after running a great supporting line off Heard, and replacement Sadia Kabeya barrelled over for England's tenth try moments later as the Red Roses began to show their attacking prowess - lifting the pace at the breakdown and spreading the ball through the backs. Heard was at the heart of that attack, and claimed another assist when feeding Dow out wide to canter over unopposed.
Powell joined Galligan with a hat-trick in the final 10 minutes, going over off the back of another rolling maul, and Kabeya scored her second in the final moments, with Helena Rowland adding the extras to confirm a comprehensive 75-0 win, though England ended the match with 14 players, as Sarah Bern was shown a yellow card with seconds left, for a high tackle.
The Red Roses have not been defeated since July 2019, when they lost to New Zealand in San Diego, and will look to continue their record of reaching the semi-final in each Rugby World Cup.
Reaction
Marlie Packer: "Super happy, and super proud to lead this team and get the result. There was a lot of changes from last week and a lot of first starts in a World Cup so we can take a lot from this game into the quarter finals next week."
Rosie Galligan: "I'm speechless. It was a phenomenal day. First 20 minutes we were a bit edgy, but we came together, slowed it down, got back into our process and put the points on in the second half. Everyone wants to play, and you can tell there were people out there today trying to put their hand up, including me. It's a team effort but we all want to be there."
Teams
Red Roses
Starters
15. Sarah McKenna 14. Abby Dow 13. Holly Aitchison 12. Tatyana Heard 11. Jessica Breach 10. Zoe Harrison 9. Lucy Packer 1. Hannah Botterman 2. Connie Powell 3. Shaunagh Brown 4. Rosie Galligan 5. Cath O'Donnell 6. Morwenna Talling 7. Marlie Packer (C) 8. Poppy Cleall
Finishers
16. Amy Cokayne 17. Maud Muir 18. Sarah Bern 19. Zoe Aldcroft 20. Sadia Kabeya 21. Leanne Infante 22. Ellie Kildunne 23. Helena Rowland
South Africa Women
Starting
15. Eloise Webb 14. Nomawethu Mabenge 13. Simamkele Mamba 12. Chumisa Qawe 11. Nadine Roos 10. Zenay Jordaan 9. Tayla Kinsey 1. Sanelisiwe Charlie 2. Roseline Botes 3. Babalwa Latsha 4. Nolusindiso Booi 5. Catha Jacobs 6. Lusanda Dumke 7. Lerato Makua 8. Aseza Hele
Replacements
16. Micke Gunter 17. Yonela Ngxingolo 18. Azisa Mkiva 19. Nompumelelo Mathe 20. Sizophila Solontsi 21. Rumandi Potgieter 22. Jakkie Cilliers 23. Chuma Qawe
World Cup Results
Red Roses 75 - 0 South Africa
