Tara-Jane Stanley leads way as England’s women dismantle Wales

England reaffirmed their position as the dominant force of women’s rugby league in the northern hemisphere with a commanding and impressive 60-0 victory over Wales.

Having beaten France 64-0 mid-season, Stuart Barrow’s side once again dispatched another side in impressive fashion at Headingley, with England scoring 10 tries without reply as they proved far too superior for Wales. The outstanding York full-back, Tara-Jane Stanley, scored 22 points in a haul which included two tries with Leeds’ Amy Hardcastle also scoring twice as the hosts once again showed they are by far the market leaders in the northern hemisphere.

The challenge for England is bridging the gap between themselves and the world’s two standout nations, Australia and New Zealand. A flurry of England players including scrum-half Georgia Roche, who excelled here, have swapped the Women’s Super League for the professionalism of the NRLW in Australia this year, in a move that many hope will give England a chance of competing at the next World Cup in 2026. Regular games against stronger opposition like the Jillaroos would also be ideal, with England once again showing here that they are far too good for sides like France and Wales as things stand.

They broke the deadlock after just nine minutes when captain Jodie Cunningham combined with Hardcastle to send the centre clear before Hardcastle scored her second five minutes later after an excellent piece of work from Roche.

Trailing 10-0 at such an early stage, you felt the writing was on the wall for Wales already, and the hosts further extended their advantage as the first half wore on. Shona Hoyle was next to score after a fine Cunningham break before Hardcastle took centre stage with a sublime break from deep that was finished by Caitlin Beevers. Stanley missed the conversion but with a 20-point advantage at half-time, it was already a case of how many England would win by.

Three minutes after the restart, Stanley cut through some poor Welsh defending to score her first of the afternoon before Lacey Owen marked her England debut with a try four minutes after coming on. Roche marked a superb performance with a try as the hour mark approached before Stanley claimed her second to make it 42-0. And any notion of the hosts letting up in the final quarter was unfounded as England crossed for three more tries with Tamzin Renouf, Keara Bennett and Emily Rudge all scoring to bring up the 60-point mark for Barrow’s side.

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