Cunningham: England Capable of Matching World’s Best

Captain Jodie Cunningham states that England is demonstrating its capability to compete with world champions Australia when the two teams face each other in March. Stuart Barrow’s team concluded 2024 by securing their largest-ever victory, defeating Wales 82-0 in their autumn Test match at Headingley. Anna Davies achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first woman to score five tries in an England international, contributing to Barrow’s side’s total of 16 tries. This match represented the final opportunity for England’s players to make an impression before Barrow selects a training squad in preparation for their encounter with the Jillaroos in Las Vegas on 1 March. England views this match as a chance to evaluate their progress since the last World Cup two years ago, when they were defeated in the semi-finals by a New Zealand team that subsequently lost significantly to Australia in the final at Old Trafford. Cunningham informed BBC Sport: “Australia are the benchmark, but who knows until we play them? And I think that’s why it’s important. We have to test ourselves against Australia to know where we are. They are the world champions. “You can’t take any credit away from how brilliantly they play, but I think we’ve shown today that we can match the best in the world. We just have to test ourselves against them, and we’re going to get the chance in March.” Wigan Warriors winger Davies drew significant attention with her try-scoring performance, while Huddersfield full-back Amelia Brown also experienced a memorable day by scoring a hat-trick on her international debut. Barrow had urged his players to begin strongly, having perceived a slow start in both June’s Test victory over France in Toulouse and last November’s 60-0 win against Wales. Both Barrow and Cunningham recognized that the upcoming trip to Vegas serves as a strong motivator for the players. Barrow stated: “It was a massive incentive for everyone. Where they might have lost control, they have to do what Stu says as there are only 20 going on the plane.” “I thought we had a little challenge. We have been sloppy in the last two Test matches in the first 25 minutes and our challenge today was to put a complete set in the first 15 and I thought we did that really well.” Cunningham was substituted towards the end of the match, as Barrow was interested in observing his players’ performance in her absence. Cunningham commented: “I don’t really like leaving the field, I’ll be honest. But we’ve got so much talent that we need to make sure everyone’s getting minutes.” Wales’ performance resulted in head coach Tom Brindle expressing “disappointment,” as the team concluded the year on a subdued note following the achievement of securing Women’s World Cup qualification for the first time in their history in June. However, Brindle believed his players would benefit from the experience. He stated: “It’s all about learning, and getting our chances to play against these teams, because that’s what we’ll be doing in two years’ time at the World Cup, so it’s a vital experience for us.” Brindle also mentioned that Wales has been hindered by uncertainty regarding the Test calendar for the upcoming year. He explained: “That’s one of the challenges. We don’t quite know next year’s schedule. “Sometimes these girls struggle. We haven’t played a competitive game for six weeks and sometimes that’s hard. “We’ll get together and we’re committed to making sure that we improve. But I don’t know what next year looks like and that possibly needs to change.”