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| England:(6) 6 |
| Tries: Goldthorp Goals: Stanley |
| New Zealand (8) 20 |
| Tries: Hufanga, McGregor, Pule, Clark Goals: Nicholls-Pualau (2) |
England’s hopes of reaching a first Women’s Rugby League World Cup were dashed by a 20-6 loss to a powerful New Zealand team in York.
Fran Goldthorp’s try had given the hosts a dream start but the Kiwi Ferns responded with tries from Mele Hufanga and Raecene McGregor before the break.
And tries from Otesa Pule and Brianna Clark rounded off the scoring for Ricky Henry’s side in front of a 7,139 crowd.
New Zealand now face Australia in Saturday’s final at Old Trafford.
England head coach Craig Richards has long insisted his players are ready to make the next step, after reaching the semi-final stage at the previous three World Cups.
And Goldthorp’s third try of the tournament, allied to a fast and committed start, suggested that there was no shortage of belief in the England ranks despite their part-time status, being paid to play at the tournament for the first time this year.
But the the power of New Zealand, a side composed mainly of full-time NRLW players, soon began to tell as cross-code international Hufanga held off Leah Burke to cross after Amber Hall had broken the English line.
McGregor’s try saw the Kiwi Ferns edge a competitive first half, with her momentum on a greasy surface allowing her to ground the ball on the try line despite the attentions of Burke.
England went in the match looking to restore some national pride after the men’s side suffered a shock semi-final loss to Samoa on Saturday.
However, while they had enjoyed thumping victories over Brazil, Canada and Papua New Guinea in the group stage, it was always going to be a step up in class against the three-time world champions, who dealt them a crushing 52-4 defeat at the same stage in Sydney in 2017.
Even though there was plenty of evidence that they have closed the gap since then, particularly with some dogged defence, they had no answer to the destructive power of the Kiwi front row.
Hufanga in particular caused no end of problems, brushing off several defenders to lay the platform for Pule to go over in the left corner just after the break.
Hall and Hufanga then combined superbly down the right before Clark’s try to ensure there would be no way back for England, as New Zealand reached a sixth consecutive final.
England: Fran Goldthorp, Caitlin Beevers, Tara-Jane Stanley, Amy Hardcastle, Leah Burke, Georgia Roche, Courtney Winfield-Hill, Shona Hoyle, Tara Jones, Olivia Wood, Vicky Molyneux, Emily Rudge (capt), Jodie Cunningham
Interchange: Keara Bennett, Hollie-Mae Dodd, Grace Field, Vicky Whitfield
New Zealand: Apii Nicholls, Katelyn Vaha’akolo, Mele Hufanga, Page McGregor, Madison Bartlett, Abigail Roache, Raecene McGregor, Brianna Clark, Krystal Rota (capt), Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala, Roxette Murdoch-Masila, Amber Hall, Georgia Hale
Interchange: Nita Maynard, Mya Hill-Moana, Otesa Pule, Charlotte Scanlan,
By Steve Sutcliffe
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