women
international women
2020 was the last time England’s Red Roses trailed in a game at half-time. Stats that look like they were pulled from a video game career mode or even made up. But it’s true.
Just like six years ago, the Red Roses had to dig deep to win. Although this time it was like that Australia and no France who stood in their way.
after all, England clinched a 48-15 win over the Wallaroos. Their second-half performance saw England cross the penalty spot seven times to make the scoreboard 10-5 in favor of the visitors a distant memory.
In the first game of both teams from WXV Global Series 2026 The Wallaroos got off to the brightest start. Led by their director of women’s high performance, Tim Walsh, and a succession of interim coaches, Australia found ways to frustrate England.
Up front the Wallaroos were physical. Every attempt to stab. Each relegation is designed to leave England’s players a little fearful of being the first to collapse. It was a truly fantastic glimpse of what this team could be capable of when new head coach Sione Fukofuka takes over in early 2027.
As the game wore on, England found space. Since early 2026, much has been made of the attacking identity they want to adopt – one that will feature a multi-phase, high-intensity attack. For now, we have yet to see it consistently enough, with the Red Roses still reverting to the forward-looking approach that helped them Rugby World Cup 2025 glory.
As for England, this was just the start of what will be a challenging two months for them. Three test matches against Canada and one against the Black Ferns now await – four matches that will pose a far greater threat to the Red Roses’ 39-game unbeaten run.
“They definitely made us work for it,” Burton told BBC Sport. “The message at halftime was that we know we are not the best.
“We really had to come out after halftime and get back at them and bring it to them physically, because they came out completely fired up.
“Finally, that cohesiveness finally started to hit. There’s a lot more to this team. Just a few teething problems to work out.”
In his interview with BBC Sport, John Mitchell described the game as a “pre-season” for his team.
The Red Roses haven’t played a game since May and are in camp just six weeks before the start of the WXV Global Series.
In contrast, the Wallaroos side played Super Rugby Women’s just before joining and even played the Black Ferns last month.
Despite this, the 62-year-old showed no signs of concern about his side’s half-time deficit and could only see positives in his side’s performance.
“It was the first pre-season game of the year where we had the reality of playing rugby and had to work (issues), which is good for us,” Mitchell said. “It’s an absolute joke if you’re worried about losing 10-5.
“It’s more about how we got back into it. We got 23 rugby players (into them) and it was a 43-point second half.”
