England got their Women's Rugby League World Cup campaign off to the perfect start as they hammered tournament newcomers Brazil 72-4 at Headingley.
Courtney Winfield-Hill and Amy Hardcastle each scored hat-tricks as Craig Richards' side piled on the points against their Group A opponents, who were playing only their third full international.
And while Franciny Amaral ran with real force and the Amazonas produced occasional big hits in defence, there was never any doubt which side would be collecting the first two points of the competition.
Georgia Roche was instrumental as England got off to a flying start, first throwing a cut-out pass for Caitlin Beevers to go over in the corner, then feeding Tara Stanley for a quickfire second.
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Winfield-Hill then put her stamp on the game, adding England’s third try as she threw a big dummy and then beat two defenders away to take an angled run to the line. The Australian-born half-back then stepped through a gap after the Brazilian defence had got bent out of shape to stroll under the sticks for a quick second.
England were 24-0 up on the half-hour mark as a 90-metre drive up field finished with Grace Field charging over the line from 20 metres, and before long they had a sixth try as Hardcastle took Winfield-Hill’s pass from the back of the scrum to sprint 35 metres to the line.
Stanley was back over on the stroke of half-time, taking a big step off her left foot to create space to score in the corner and give England a 34-0 advantage.
Brazil’s rawness was exposed early in the second half when Amanda Welter failed to deal with a grubber kick from Roche and Fran Goldthorp collected the ball on the line and touched down.
Hardcastle then crossed for her second of the afternoon and 23rd in an England shirt, finishing off a move which saw Winfield-Hill and Goldthorp take on the Brazil line with real purpose.
The Amazonas then got reward for their endeavour when Beevers was penalised for a high shot and from the tap penalty a quick offload put Natalia Momberg in acres of space to cross for a try which was celebrated with great gusto.
England were soon back over the line though when Tara Jones exploited a gap from dummy half, then Hardcastle was in for her hat-trick after racing clear on the left and ducking inside. Leah Burke was next to score, handing off two to crash over after great work between Winfield-Hill and Hardcastle.
Winfield-Hill had a hat-trick moments later, taking Hollie Dodd’s return pass to dance through, and Olivia Wood crashed through the line to notch England's 14th score on the stroke of the hooter.
England are back in Group A action on Saturday at the DW Stadium in Wigan when they take on Canada, whose tournament gets away on Tuesday night against Papua New Guinea.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
