Top of their game? Red Roses must keep rising to claim ultimate prize

That try came from Jess Breach missing a tackle. She also scored two tries and played her part in others, but that defence was poor and she will know that. It’s definitely a place for improvement, as is how England set up at kick-off. They seem to be doing this thing where they have four players stacked up at the front and a lifer behind but I’m not sure they even need that. Are any team in rugby sophisticated enough to justify England setting up like that? I think they have overcomplicated the kick-off at their own expense.

On the positive side, this was a phenomenal performance by a team at the top of their game.

The Red Roses created plenty of opportunities, scored a nice variety of tries, and entertained the booming crowd. That stadium was bouncing with the most incredible atmosphere and that was the perfect way to begin the tournament.

I know Ellie Kildunne got player of the match, but surely Hannah Botterman, the England prop, was more impressive? I fear that Ellie sometimes gets the player of the match award because she is well known, rather than it being a reflection of her actual performance. Ellie played well but if you look at the involvements of Hannah, she had one of her best games in an England shirt. She is fast becoming a world-class prop.

Now England face Samoa next week, who are an almost unknown opposition but we know they are a physical side. It reminds me of when England played Fiji at the last Rugby World Cup, and players have told me it was their least favourite game to play in, because they didn’t know what they would find.

England are a team who love to prepare with analysis, and they undoubtedly struggle with the unknown. The USA was arguably England’s toughest opposition in this pool, but Samoa do pose the threat of being unknown.

Will we see a triple-figure score from England against Samoa? Well, if Australia can put 73 points on Samoa, England could do far worse damage than that. I think there’s a question about whether that is actually good for the game, considering the need to attract audiences at this tournament. What I do know is that Samoa will struggle at the scrum, and England can capitalise on that.

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