England Rugby League Eyes Redemption Against Australia After Las Vegas Debacle

England's women's rugby league team is preparing to face Australia in the World Cup on Saturday, seeking to demonstrate their significant progress since a humiliating 90-4 loss to the same opponent in Las Vegas 19 months ago. That match, intended to be the start of a regular Women's Ashes series and a showcase for the sport in the United States, instead highlighted a substantial gap between the dominant Australian Jillaroos and the England team.

A New Era for England

England head coach Stuart Barrow has overseen a considerable transformation of his squad since the March 2025 fixture at Allegiant Stadium. The current team features only six players from the previous encounter, with a new generation of talent aiming to challenge the world champions. Barrow expressed confidence in his youthful squad, stating their belief that they can perform better than their predecessors.

"The youngsters coming in think that they can do better than what we did last time and I fully back that and believe them as well," Barrow said. "If you're a young player coming into this group and coming to represent your country in a World Cup on the other side of the world, you want to play the best."

Australia, winners of the last three World Cups, are considered the benchmark in international women's rugby league, having lost only once since 2016. England's preparation for this encounter has also been impacted by a serious knee injury to second-row forward Jasmin Strange, ruling her out of the remainder of the tournament. Barrow acknowledged this as a "devastating blow" but insisted the team is using the lessons from the Las Vegas match.

"We learned a lot from it," Barrow added. "We've built on that through all our training over the last 18 months. We've got some senior players who were in that group at the time and it allows them to talk about what happened in that game to our young group."

England began their World Cup campaign with a dominant 70-6 victory over Wales, but Barrow anticipates a significantly tougher challenge against Australia, who defeated Samoa 40-0 in their opening match. He stressed the importance of ball retention and skill against the world champions.

Emerging Talent and Memorable Moments

The England squad boasts several exciting new players. Centre Connie Boyd debuted with a hat-trick, while Super League's Woman of the Steel, Jenna Foubister, and her Wigan teammate Isabel Rowe have impressed in the halves. Rowe, a 19-year-old, set a new points record for a female England player at a World Cup with 26 points against Wales.

Huddersfield Giants winger Amelia Brown, a 22-year-old dog groomer, scored a viral 107-meter try against Wales. Barrow highlighted such moments as crucial for raising the profile of the women's game. "We want moments like that in our sport and especially the women's game because the one million views [it has had] puts us on the map and hopefully that gets people interested back home in our sport," he said.

Australia's hooker Keeley Nizza acknowledged the rivalry and noted that England appears to be a different team than the one they faced in Las Vegas. The match is scheduled for Saturday at 10:05 BST.