Hat-trick hero Amy Hardcastle hailed the Headingley environment as England bought their ladies’s Rugby League World Cup marketing campaign off to a dominant begin with a 72-4 win over Brazil.
Hundreds of schoolchildren swelled a formidable Tuesday afternoon crowd of 8,621 – comfortably the most important for a ladies’s rugby league sport within the northern hemisphere – and noticed the hosts run in 14 tries to the backdrop of a six-piece samba band on the South Stand terrace.
And while the youthful crowd celebrated England’s complete victory, in addition they witnessed a little bit of unlikely World Cup historical past when Natalia Momberg crossed for the Amazonas’ first ever strive within the match on the hour mark.
“It was overwhelming and there was a feeling of pride with everybody here and so many people coming down here and supporting us,” stated St Helens centre Hardcastle, who’s showing in her third World Cup having made her debut in 2013.
“It was one of the best crowds I have ever played in front of and it felt like we had the whole of England behind us, it was fantastic. You are always going to start with a few nerves and it was a great opportunity to shake them off.”
England led 34-0 at half-time and got here agonisingly near eclipsing their earlier file win of 72-0 towards Russia within the 2008 World Cup.
As the Brazilians, enjoying solely their third worldwide fixture, inevitably drained, each Hardcastle and Courtney Winfield-Hill accomplished their hat-tricks whereas there have been additionally tries from Caitlin Beevers, Grace Field, Fran Goldthorpe, Tara Jones, Leah Burke, Olivia Wood and a brace from Tara-Jane Stanley, who added 16 factors with the boot.
But whereas England coach Craig Richards expressed satisfaction along with his aspect’s opening show, he conceded a level of disappointment with Momberg’s history-making second, when she spurted over on the fitting flank to spark celebrations within the Brazilian ranks.
“I didn’t want to give them (Brazil) anything,” admitted Richards. “I think they’ve got a great future and they’ve had their moment, but I wasn’t happy with that try.
“When you come into games like this you understand that things will open up for us and I thought once we settled in you could see some of the stuff we have been working on, and we got a lot out of the game.
“We’ve got an energy in our defence, there’s a willingness to get over the line and wrestle in contact, and when you enjoy defending that will give you the licence to go out and play and that’s what we want to do.”
Richards, who will give his remaining squad members a run-out of their second group sport towards Canada subsequent Saturday, warned of sterner checks to come back.
“We need to improve week on week, and we are not going to rack up scores like this every week,” stated Richards. “That’s unrealistic. We’ll build and improve but it might not always look like it in terms of the scoreboard.”
Brazil captain Maria Graf stated her staff, who had solely beforehand performed in entrance of crowds numbering within the tons of, might take delight of their efficiency, which was capped by Momberg’s magical second on the left flank.
“For us it doesn’t matter about the score, we are happy because we are making history in the World Cup,” stated Graf.
“It was tough but I think we were well prepared and we will focus on the next game now. It’s our first time in the Rugby League World Cup and it’s an honour to represent Brazil and South America.
“Our history here is still beginning and it was a special moment for us.”
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk