Leah Burke was the star of the show as England ran rampant against France at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday evening to be crowned as the mid-season international winners. Winger Burke scored four tries in the 64-0 hammering to scoop up the Player of the Match Award in Warrington.
Stuart Barrow’s era as England boss has gotten off to a perfect start and while France didn’t offer as much of a contest as many were anticipating, there were so many incredible performances for England.
It was a fast start for England which came thanks to France making an error from the kick-off. The hosts scored their first try inside the first five minutes through Burke. England showcased some nice wing play as they moved the ball nicely across the left. Betfred Women’s Super League Woman of Steel Tara-Jane Stanley was unable to convert, however, as her kick struck the post.
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England were on the ascendancy and they doubled their lead five minutes later with Burke scoring her second of the match. Once again she held a strong position on the left to get a clear run to the try line after receiving the ball from Stanley, who was unable to convert with her second kick of the game.
Shona Hoyle got in on the action midway through the first half as showed tremendous skill to weave her way through the hapless French defence from 12 metres out. At the third time of asking, Stanley added the extra points through the conversion. England began to run away with the contest with Tamzin Renouf adding a fourth try, with Stanley converting for a second time. Debutant Eboni Partington was able to punish France for another error by getting over the line as England were now 24-0 up.
Stanley made it 30-0 just before half time as she was able to get over the line and convert her own score as England were cruising and France looked well beaten. England’s dominance continued after the interval with Hollie Mae-Dodd scoring twice in the early stages, while Burke completed her hat-trick with an unbelievable catch.
Sinead Peach, with the help of the video assistant referee, took England’s tally to 52, along with Stanley’s conversion. France were now desperate for the game to end, the gulf in class between the two sides had been clear from the beginning. Burke capped off her sublime individual performance to score her fourth try of the game and Stanley converted to take the scoreline to 58-0.
France’s heads had long been dropped and they continued to make mistakes which it made it far easier for England to exploit. We got a great moment towards the end of the match when Jodie Cunningham got on the scoresheet in her first game as captain to wrap up the huge victory.
