England outlast Australia to book Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland

Tense. Gripping. A proper Test match. Australia put England under the most pressure they have faced in a long time with a superb first-half performance but the Red Roses pulled away in the second half to seal top spot and a quarter-final against Scotland.

The victory was also England’s 30th in a row, equalling their own world record set at the last World Cup. The eventual 47-7 scoreline was not a true reflection of what a battle this final Pool A match was, with Jo Yapp’s Australia executing a successful kicking game to put the Red Roses under huge pressure in the opening half hour. England did not lead until the 33rd minute and Australia got some reward for their efforts, the result meaning they qualify for the last eight and a meeting with Canada.

While the errors made by England will be a worry, what may cause more concern are the injuries sustained to key players in the brutal encounter. The full-back Ellie Kildunne was substituted when showing concussion symptoms and will not play in the quarter-final, while Hannah Botterman went off with an acute back spasm. The back-row Morwenna Talling also came off for a head injury assessment but passed and is expected to be available for selection.

Australia knew before kick-off that a win, a bonus point or a defeat by no more than 74 points would see them through to the quarter-finals. In the buildup the talk had been about causing an upset and they started on the right path with a scrum penalty leading to Adiana Talakai scoring from a rolling maul. England responded well, Jess Breach scoring on her 50th cap.

As Australia cranked up the pressure, Amy Cokayne held the ball up over the line to preventanother score. Australia were almost over again when Caitlyn Halse popped a grubber kick through but Natasha Hunt picked up over the try-line and threw a pass to Kildunne who snuffed out the danger.

England thought they had another try but a TMO check confirmed Cokayne had dropped the ball over the line and more bad news came when Botterman went down in considerable pain, putting her head into her shirt and heading straight down the tunnel for treatment.

Errors from England stopped their usual free-flowing attack and Australia continued to orchestrate the game until Abbie Ward powered over. Australia had their own injury woes with Lydia Kavoa carried off on a stretcher before Sadia Kabeya scored to make the half-time score 19-7.

A fumbled attack turned into a try early in the second half thanks to the individual brilliance of Hunt, whose footwork set up Kabeya for her second. Kildunne then hit her head on the floor after a tackle and was replaced.

Faitala Moleka was shown a yellow card for head contact on Maud Muir and England took advantage of being a player up with Kelsey Clifford going over. The replacement prop scored again and Sarah Bern added to the scoreline before also being shown a yellow card for shoulder to head contact.

The Australia head coach and former England captain Yapp, who is leaving her role after the World Cup, said: “The scoreline just blew out in the second half, in the first half we were really in the game. We were really competitive and were executing what we wanted to do but we knew England were going to come out hard in the second half. We just started to lose some of our launch plays and put ourselves under pressure a little bit.”

The Red Roses continue on their unbeaten run but the performance was far from perfect. It was another dominant scoreline but opponents who come next will know there are ways to put dents in England’s armour.