Women’s rugby Kildunne savours second-half show by England in cup opener

LLIE Kildunne felt England grew into the game more and more as it went on after opening their Women’s World Cup campaign with a 69-7 victory over the United States in Sunderland.

- Rebecca JOHNSON

The Red Roses kicked off the tournament with an 11-try win against the USA and took an early lead through Sadia Kabeya and Hannah Botterman before Erica Jarrell-Searcy pulled one back.

After Alev Kelter was shown a yellow card, Maud Muir and Kil-dunne scored in quick succession for the hosts to lead 28-7 at halftime.

England improved further in the second half and a ruthless display saw seven more tries scored as Abby Dow, Kildunne and Amy Cokayne all crossed, while Jess Breach and Lark Atkin-Davies bagged braces.

Kildunne said: “It was a game definitely of two halves, we found our way and fixed things coming into the second half.

“What a game to kick off, not just how we played and how the USA played, but the crowd and the atmosphere was amazing”