England overpower USA in commanding World Cup opener

As opening acts go, this particular script was pretty much followed to a tee.

A record crowd of 42,723 packed inside the Stadium of Light, fervour fizzing through the Wearside skies and England firmly centre stage.

Without a doubt, John Mitchell’s side would have felt the weight of expectation to deliver on night one - and that was evident in a far from polished first 40 in Sunderland - but in the end, England showed why they are the dominant force they are.

It is the way the Red Roses have looked since losing to New Zealand in the last World Cup final. Apart from a couple of tight scorelines over the last three years, they have frequently overpowered their opposition, and tonight was no different.

Fifty-eight wins from their last 59 matches stresses this point even further, as braces from Ellie Kildunne, Jess Breach and Lark Atkin-Davis - as well as tries from Sadia Kabeya, Hannah Botterman, Maud Muir, Abby Dow and Amy Cokayne - saw the Red Roses complete mission one of their World Cup quest.

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USA, to their credit, battled well in the first half with Erica Jarrell-Searcy sprinting over, but England, as expected, had too much for them after the break.

In the week, Mitchell spoke about the World Cup throwing up curveballs, but tonight, his side were able to bat USA out of the park.

However, it wasn’t full bells and whistles in the opening 40 from England. Three handling errors inside 12 minutes perhaps suggested those first-game nerves were present, but the Red Roses were able to shake them off.

In the midst of a disjointed start, flanker Kabeya was able to signal England’s intentions. Mitchell singled her out post-match as a shining performer and early on, she disrupted a breakdown, carried hard and was rewarded by scoring the first try - created by a strong scrum and then a dominant lineout.

England then produced a neat passage of play for their next effort. The impressive Meg Jones sent a kick wide across the field, which Dow gathered and kept moving before Botterman cut a gorgeous line to score.

Credit to USA though, they weren’t just going to let England dictate.

Ilona Maher’s athleticism tried to spark the Eagles but after a mix-up between captain Kate Zackary and winger Bulou Mataitoga saw a certain scoring chance slip away, the latter was able to feed Sale Sharks' Jarrell-Searcy who charged over on 24 minutes.

However, any US momentum was curtailed when Alev Kelter was sinbinned for cynically slapping the ball out of Mo Hunt’s hands.

England immediately went on the offensive, scoring 14 points. Two penalties and two kicks to the corner, despite some valiant USA defence, resulted in Muir rumbling over from close range.

Then, straight from kick off and with a player advantage, Kildunne finished a flowing move after being fed by Dow. Fly-half Zoe Harrison made it four from four from the tee.

And, as they so often do, England then took control as the USA's intensity - which was there in the first half - faded away.

A couple of tidy offloads in midfield allowed Jones to burst through before Tatyana Heard flicked it out wide to Dow for the Red Roses' fifth on 42 minutes.

Jones was again involved shortly after. Following a grubber from Breach, the centre charged down a clearance kick which ended with Kildunne mopping up the loose ball to juggle over.

Cokayne was next on 52 minutes, profiting from a smart lineout move, before Breach got in on the act thanks to some unselfish play by Kildunne.

How good was this from @elliekildunne and @jessbreach?! ??#RWC2025 | #RedRoses | #ENGvUSApic.twitter.com/zGbECE6JF3

— Red Roses (@RedRosesRugby) August 22, 2025

From the bench, Atkin-Davies - who scored in England's WXV1 win over USA back in September - got England's ninth before Emily Scarratt was introduced to appear in a fifth World Cup; the first English player, male or female, to do so.

The Red Roses kept their foot on the pedal, and Kildunne showed why she is the World Player of the Year.

USA made 17 phases before being turned over. A break from Kildunne from inside her own 22 and then some brilliant footballing skills allowed her to feed Breach for her double, with Atkin-Davies putting the gloss on things with a second try five minutes from time.

One tick in the box for England, and while most teams claim to take tournaments one game at a time, it’s impossible not to let thoughts drift towards the World Cup final at Allianz Stadium on September 27th.

For now, however, England head to Northampton to take on Samoa next Saturday.

Red Roses boss John Mitchell: "We've just got to deal with what we're confronted with. We’re hunted and we love being hunted. Every team is going to rise physically and mentally 10 or 15 per cent. We expect that, but we're also going to grow as well. We've only just got started, and there's a lot of great depth in us.

"I think we built into the performance slowly and we lifted our intensity in the second half. We really enjoyed the way the girls built pressure on USA. We forced their negativity and we took advantage of that.

“The scrum was outstanding tonight. The scrum buried USA. Numerous penalties probably could have sent some players to the bin as well because of continued negativity in that area. We'll just go where we can apply pressure. You can't just always rely on individuals and as this tournament progresses, we're going to have to get even better in our connections and working together.

“There's always something to work on. This game's never finite. I don't think you ever become satisfied with a performance. You're able to morph that into the next preparation and the girls are very good at finding solutions. It's good that we've got something to work on.”

England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Harrison, Hunt; Botterman, Cokayne, Muir, Talling, Ward, Aldcroft (capt), Kabeya, Matthews.