Pool A: Australia 73-0 Samoa
Wallaroos set their record tournament victory
Australia made light work of Samoa with a flawless performance in Salford, registering their record margin of victory in a Women’s World Cup game to move top of Group A after the opening round of fixtures.
With the competition expanding from 12 teams to 16, it was perhaps expected there would be some one-sided results. This was categorically one of those as the Wallaroos began their campaign with a dominant victory to tee up what will almost certainly be a winner-takes-all clash with USA next Saturday in York to qualify with England.
They scored 11 tries, including seven in a blistering first-half performance to not only surpass their record 62-0 victory over South Africa, in the 2010 tournament, but move ahead of England on points difference. Samoa showed plenty of spirit, but they were well beaten on their first World Cup appearance since 2014.
