England 48-15 Australia: Red Roses' seven-try second-half blitz earns win in WXV Global Series opener

The Red Roses scored seven tries in the second-half to race to a 48-15 victory over Australia in their WXV Global Series opener at the CorpAcq Stadium in Salford.

Despite a scintillating second 40 from the hosts, the first half was all about Australia as they showed defensive strength to hold on to a 10-5 lead at half-time thanks to a Samantha Wood penalty and a converted Faliki Pohiva effort.

When Wood was in the sin bin for a deliberate knock on was the only time the Red Roses got on the board as Abi Burton went over from short range. Holly Aitchison was unable to add the extras.

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Remarkably, it was the first time the Red Roses had trailed at half-time in seven years, the last time coming all the way back in 2019.

However, it was in the second half that England got back to their usual best and with tries from May Campbell, Meg Jones, Bryony Field, Mia Venner, Sadia Kabeya, Lucy Packer, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, plus a conversion from Holly Aitchison and three from Zoe Harrison, they made it 39 matches in a row unbeaten.

The Wallaroos did get a second-half try thorugh Eva Karpani, who was earlier sent to the sin bin for an infringement in the build-up to Venner's try but it was merely a consolation as the Red Roses showed just why they are currently the No 1 ranked team and world champions.

Next up for England is Canada on September 19 in Exeter, before they face New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on September 26.

A second-half serving of Red Roses running wild

It was truly a tale of two halves in the North West of England as Australia took an early lead after England were penalised for holding on, Wood slotting over the conversion for a three-point lead after four minutes.

The Red Roses thought they had quickly hit back through skipper Meg Jones but on review, she was offside as the charge down on the kick occurred and so her effort was chalked off, and the visitors' early advantage was reinstated.

Despite Australia taking control, they allowed England to get into the game when Wood was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on and they had to battle for 10 minutes with just 14 players.

They did well for five minutes until the Red Roses' numerical advantage brought the spoils on the left edge, Sadia Kabeya passing back on the inside to send Burton in.

That did not deter Australia though and back at full strength, they thought they had gone over through Brittany Merlo but once again the video referee intervened and this time dismissed the try due to sealing off at the line-out.

It took eight minutes for the Wallaroos to go over again and this time it was from an impressive steal at the line-out. Off the back of it, Pohiva used her strength to burrow over and Wood converted to put Australia 10-5 ahead.

Australia's defence, as it did throughout the majority of the first half, then continued to stand firm and deny England any more points before the break. That meant they went in behind for the first time in seven years and were firmly in unprecedented territory.

That seemed to motivate the home side though and it took seven minutes for England to pull the line-out maul out of their back pocket with Campbell finishing it off. This time, Aitchison converted for a 12-10 lead.

Four tries in 10 minutes saw England find their electric best in attack and take the game away from Australia.

On the 51st minute, skipper Jones finished off a brilliant Aitchison kick. On the 55th minute, debutante Field steered the driving maul over. On the 57th minute, Venner went over in the corner and then on the 61st minute, Kabeya forced her way over under the posts to cap off a relentless period.

This time, Harrison added the conversion to put England 34-10 up with less than 20 minutes remaining.

During that pressure, things went from bad to worse for Australia as they had Karpani sin-binned for an infringement during the build-up to Venner's try and of course, England were not done adding points to their tally.

Replacement No 7 Packer then got in on the actions as she used the breakdown in her favour to get over, Harrison accurate with the boot once again to put the Red Roses 41-10 up.

On her return from a 10-minute sit down, Karpani did manage to hit back for Australia as she crashed over from the back of the lineout.

However, England made sure to have the last word as Moloney-MacDonald showed her speed on the edge, Harrison capping off the afternoon with a brilliant touchline conversion to see the game finish 48-15.

Burton: 'So much more to come'

Player of the Match Abi Burton told BBC Sport:

"It was tough, they made us work for it. We knew we weren't at our best at half-time, we needed to come out and bring it to them physically because they came out absolutely gunning.

"That cohesiveness started to click at the end. There is so much more to come from this team, we've just got a few teething issues to sort out.

"It's going to take time for us to get back into it with a shorter pre-season. But it's about how we adapt quickly and great ready for the next Test match.

"We're a different group of players in some aspects, but the messages have always been the same: be the best versions of ourselves and be as cohesive as possible. It's an ever-evolving Red Roses team."

WXV Global Series: England's schedule and results

• September 12 - England 48-15 Australia (Salford)
• September 19 - England v Canada (Exeter)
• September 26 - England v New Zealand (Twickenham)
• October 16 - Canada v England (Toronto)
• October 23 - Canada v England (Ottawa)
• October 30 - USA v England (New Jersey)