wellnessfitpro
Key events
63 mins: There’s so much hunger in the Jillaroos’ attack – in every tackle they’re looking for an offload, every run is an opportunity for a linebreak. They set up something promising on the right edge, but Brown pulls off a try-saving tackle to drag Church into touch. The game stops while medical staff assess an injury to Goldthorp, who looks to be in a lot of pain in her left wrist.
61 mins: Upton makes a huge linebreak and then drops the ball under no pressure at all. Soon after, the Jillaroos give away a penalty and Murray drops it straight away to hand it back again.
59 mins: England opt to run it on the fifth, but they can’t break through the defence and it’s a handover. It’s a good set and Kelleher finishes it off with a monster bomb, but Goldthorp reads it well in the swirling wind and starts the set off well, but a few tackles later, England lose the ball in a tackle.
57 mins: A rare error from the Jillaroos early in their set gives England a chance in attack. The defence is just so strong, it’s like a wall of gold in front of them every time they try to make their way towards the tryline.
GOAL! Australia 70-0 England (Kelleher 54′)
Kelleher is bending the ball at all kinds of angles tonight and she makes a tough kick look easy.
TRY! Australia 68-0 England (Penitani Gray 53′)
A strong set from Australia finishes with a great kick, that England can’t hold on to. Upton swoops on the ball and sets up a try for Penitani Gray.
GOAL! Australia 64-0 England (Kelleher 52′)
Another simple kick for Kelleher and she slots it with ease.
TRY! Australia 62-0 England (Weale 50′)
Australia on the attack again and they drive their way down field. Kelly nearly dives over the line, but Goldthorp makes a great tackle. But they can’t hold back the tide for long and Weale scores on debut!
50 mins: Kelleher misses the conversion, but it does little to dampen the enthusiasm of the Australians and their fans. Chapman and Kelly get the next set underway with rampaging runs. In no time at all, they’re inside England’s 20. England manage to field the kick, but the defensive pressure is so intense and they struggle to make much ground.
TRY! Australia 58-0 England (Church 46′)
England kick off again and the Jillaroos start another set with seemingly unwavering zeal and determination. They make a small error on the fifth tackle, with both halves standing together and the ball going to ground, but Kelleher picks it up, dodges the defence and chips it to herself to set up a brilliant try for Church.
GOAL! Australia 54-0 England (Kelleher 45′)
Another easy shot for Kelleher and she keeps on pushing the lead out.
TRY! Australia 52-0 England (Dodd 44′)
England play a decent set for a completion, but they need more than decent sets to get through this Australian defence. The Jillaroos push up the field and Dodd puts Taufa through a gap, she dashes towards the line and gets it back to Dodd, who scores under the post.
43 mins: The Jillaroos don’t look like slowing down yet, Kelly with a great hit up to get the momentum going. They shift the ball over to the right and Church makes a great run down the edge, but is pulled down short of the line. They move the ball left, but a poor pass from Kelly sends the ball over the sideline.
GOAL! Australia 48-0 England (Kelleher 41′)
Another simple shot from Kelleher and she extends the lead.
TRY! Australia 46-0 England (Kernick 39′)
The Jillaroos have now gone past the total they put on Samoa last week, which they’ll be happy with. Soon after receiving the kick off, they pick a penalty, with Murray not square at marker. Kelleher puts in a lovely short ball and Kernick finds space and dives over right under the posts.
GOAL! Australia 42-0 England (Kelleher 38′)
An easy kick for Kelleher this time and she makes no mistake.
TRY! Australia 40-0 England (Aiken 37′)
Penitani Gray gets the defenders committing, then throws a nice little pass inside to Aiken who dives over to score and Australia has their first try in the second half.
37 mins: England get their first chance to receive a kick off and they make good ground down the field. Foubister puts up a great kick, which Chapman can’t hold on to, but it’s knocked back and Australia keep the ball.
Australia has kicked off and we’re into the second half…
Half time: Australia 36-0 England
Well, what a half of rugby league from the Jillaroos. They look even more dominant than they did against Samoa last weekend. England have had few chances – they came close to scoring at one point, but Davies couldn’t get the ball down before sliding into touch.
Australia have had no such trouble finding the tryline and continue to build pressure as their lead grows. Kelleher has been outstanding once again – her kicks in play have been pinpoint accurate, her goal kicking has also been strong and she also has two tries to her name.
England have a lot to do to try to turn this around in the second half, but they will come out fighting and won’t count themselves out just yet.
Some clarification on the injury to Robinson, it is a suspected fracture, not a dislocation. Either way, not great news for her World Cup campaign.
34 mins: A decent attacking set from England, with some good plays down the left edge. They try to push over the line over on the right on the fifth tackle, but the Australian defence is too strong. A good defensive set from England keeps Australia contained within their own half.
32 mins: Another penalty to the Jillaroos after Dodd put a late charge on the kicker Aiken. Then England give away another penalty after Murray puts a high tackle on Chapman. The Jillaroos look like scoring again, but Aiken drops the ball 5m out. Then England finally get a penalty after a flop by Weale. The penalty count sits at 7-1, which will be something for England to address at half-time.
30 mins: England have lost their second rower Hunter to an ankle injury, she won’t return tonight. Robinson has dislocated her wrist and her World Cup is unfortunately over.
TRY! Australia 36-0 England (Church 27′)
Another good start to the set for the Jillaroos, with some great offloads to get them flying down the field. Church makes a great break down the right hand side and steps off her right foot to get around Goldthorp and score.
GOAL! Australia 32-0 England (Kelleher 26′)
The wind is quite strong at the ground, but Kelleher manages to push the kick through and send it over the black dot.
TRY! Australia 30-0 England (Kelly 25′)
England struggling in defence now and coming off the penalty, Australia send the ball left and Kelly runs through Goldthorp like she’s not there.
25 mins: Kelleher’s slice kick doesn’t work for her this time, but the Jillaroos are still well ahead. A tackle goes wrong for England immediately, with Bennett penalised for a dangerous tackle on Togatuki.
TRY! Australia 26-0 England (Kelleher 21′)
Immediately after that second penalty, the Jillaroos shift the ball wide and find Kelleher, who muscles her way over the tryline with three defenders hanging on.
22 mins: Another fast-paced attacking set from the Jillaroos and they pick up a penalty on the third tackle, with England slow to release from the tackle. The Jillaroos immediately fly deep into England territory and pick up another penalty.
20 mins: England get within 15m at the fifth tackle, but let themselves down with a simple kick lobbed straight back to the Jillaroos, who get straight back on the attack. Trouble though for Robinson, who looks to be in a lot of pain with what looks like a fracture to her left forearm from a tackle. She heads straight to the shed. Cunningham for England is also getting some treatment for a cut on her head.
18 mins: Australia make a great run down the centre, but an error from Elliott gets England the ball in good attacking position.
GOAL! Australia 22-0 England (Kelleher 16′)
A more challenging kick this time, but Kelleher isn’t fazed and she adds another two points to the lead.
TRY! Australia 20-0 England (Robinson 15′)
Another successful kick off from England, but the Jillaroos are giving them plenty to worry about aside from kick offs. A strong hit up from Higgins right up the centre sets up a good opportunity for the Jillaroos. Running on the fifth tackle, they get England playing at the ball and earn a set restart. They move the ball quickly from one side of the field to the other and create a gap for Robinson to run through and score.
GOAL! Australia 16-0 (Kelleher 13′)
Kelleher is happy with the kicking position she’s given herself and slots one over to extend the lead.
TRY! Australia 14-0 England (Kelleher 12′)
An expansive set from the Jillaroos, starting with some strong hit ups through the middle, then bringing some offloads in, which opens up a gap for Upton. They get close to the tryline again, but Goldthorp fields it well. It’s Australia’s next set where they cause real dramas, with a huge linebreak from Upton, followed by a strong tackle break, setting up a try for Kelleher, who makes sure to get herself a good kicking position while she’s at it.
11 mins: England come off the scrum feed 15m out and brimming with confidence. They spread the ball wide and Davies makes a desperate dive for the tryline, which referee Belinda Sharpe originally rules a try, but it’s very clear on replay that she has been dragged into touch before getting the ball down. The Jillaroos make their way down field again.
9 mins: England finally manages to get through a kick off without an error, they’ll be relieved about that. A solid set for Australia and then England get their first decent attacking set, which they complete by forcing an error from Chapman on the kick receive.
GOAL! Australia 10-0 England (Kelleher 7′)
The kick has more swing than a Mitchell Starc first over delivery and then hits the post and drops over!
TRY! Australia 8-0 England (Chapman 5′)
Kelleher sends the kick wide – it’s a tricky angle and into the sun, so we won’t be too harsh on her. England have another horror kick off, this time kicking the ball out on the full and the Jillaroos are back on the attack. A great hit up from Kernick early in the set gives them plenty of momentum as they head down the field. Kelleher puts up a pinpoint accurate cross-field bomb on the last and Chapman soars into the air to take it at full stretch and put it down in the corner.
TRY! Australia 4-0 England (Chapman 2′)
Upton makes a huge line break and is just cut off when she’s heading for the tryline. The Jillaroos spread the ball wide, keeping it alive and forcing England’s defence to overcommit. Chapman darts over in the corner.
2 mins: Not an ideal start for England, with a number of players being ruled offside from the kickoff. In a flash, the Jillaroos are inside the 10. Aiken puts in a kick on the fifth, but it’s fielded well and England are on the attack. They are struggling to get off their own line with Australia’s intense defence.
England has kicked off and we’re off and running.
The teams are on the field now for the anthems, with a healthy crowd inside HBF Park.
The teams are finishing up their preparations in the change rooms now – it won’t be long until the match gets under way!
You’d expect the Jillaroos to be happy after their huge win over Samoa last week, but they have identified plenty of areas to work on. In particular they want to address the fact that they only scored two tries in the second half, after crossing the line five times in the first. They are also concerned that their completion rate dropped to 76 per cent in the second half, so will be looking to cut down their errors tonight.
There is naturally a lot of talk going around about that Las Vegas match last year, but England are trying to shut out the noise.
“It’s not banned – but we’ve done all our learning from Vegas now,” England coach Stuart Barrow told rlwc.com earlier this week.
“It’s buried, it’s in the past. It’s so long ago and this is a different group, a new group and we’re ready to go with our challenge now, this group’s challenge. The 23 in the room there, they’ve got outstanding attitudes. To leave five people out of this team was tough so we’ve got a really good healthy squad and it’s their challenge now to deal with Australia next week.”
And to refresh your memory on Australia’s dominant first round win over Samoa, here’s Jack Snape’s excellent match report.
If you’d like to quickly get yourself up to speed on the tournament and what to expect tonight, we’ve got you covered with this RLWC preview.
For England, Connie Boyd comes into the centres for Georgia Wilson and Jenna Foubister replaces Georgia Roche in halfback (a bad night for Georgias). Liv Wood gets the nod over Mary Coleman in the front row and NRLW premiership winner Jasmin Strange is also out after suffering a knee injury at training, replaced in the second row by Lucy Murray.
A few changes to the Jillaroos from the team that took on Samoa last weekend. Julia Robinson shifts from the wing to the centre, replacing Jess Sergis, while Abbi Church comes in on the wing. Tiana Penitani Gray moves from the bench to the second row, replacing Kezie Apps. And the interchange bench has had a complete refresh. I’m interested to see Tarryn Aiken continuing to hold the halfback position, I thought Jesse Southwell might get her first shot of the tournament tonight, but she will have to wait.
Team List: England
1. Fran Goldthorp
2. Anna Davies
3. Molly Jones
4. Connie Boyd
5. Amelia Brown
6. Isabel Rowe
7. Jenna Foubister
8. Liv Wood
9. Keara Bennett
10. Hollie-Mae Dodd
21. Lucy Murray
12. Eva Hunter
13. Megan Williams
Interchange
14. Jodie Cunningham
15. Vicky Whitfield
16. Georgia Roche
17. Lucie Sams
Team List: Australia
1. Tamika Upton
2. Jaime Chapman
3. Julia Robinson
4. Isabelle Kelly
5. Abbi Church
6. Jocelyn Kelleher
7. Tarryn Aiken
8. Millie Elliott
9. Olivia Higgins
10. Simaima Taufa
11. Tiana Penitani Gray
12. Shaylee Bent
13. Olivia Kernick
Interchange
14. Quincy Dodd
15. Sarah Togatuki
16. Makenzie Weale
17. Sariah Paki
Preamble
_(ef04def6065c81ceb7d81c967f1e2095c2d32a4d).png)
Megan Maurice
Hello and welcome back to the Rugby League World Cup! It has been a lot of fun so far, with plenty of fans getting behind the teams and lots of colour and excitement across the venues. Tonight we have the Australian Jillaroos taking on England for the first time since that very memorable match in Las Vegas in 2025 when the Jillaroos won 90-4. I was in the live blog hotspot for that one and it was a real challenge to keep up with that many tries being scored. I don’t think we’ll see a scoreline like that tonight – both the English team and my typing fingers will be grateful if we don’t.
Both teams had extremely dominant wins in round 1. Australia shook off an error-ridden start to defeat Samoa 40-0, while England piled on the tries against Wales to win 70-6. Isabel Rowe was the standout for England in that win, with two tries and nine conversions to her name. The 19-year-old halfback plays for the Wigan Warriors in the Women’s Super League and will be instrumental to England’s chances against the reigning World Cup champions tonight.
The match is being played in Perth – not traditional rugby league territory – but with the Perth Bears set to enter the NRLM next year, it is a good opportunity to win over some fans.
We’ve got plenty to cover before kick off, so let’s get into it!
#Australia #England #womens #Rugby #League #World #Cup #live #Womens #Rugby #League #World #Cup
