England head coach Stuart Barrow insists his side remain firmly positive of reaching the Women’s Rugby League World Cup semi-finals, despite being blown away in a heavy 78-0 drubbing by a dominant Australia side on Saturday.
Nineteen months on from a humbling 90-4 defeat to the same opposition in Las Vegas—a record-breaking encounter in March 2025 where Tamika Upton scored five of Australia’s 17 tries—England suffered another comprehensive loss against the reigning world champions. In this latest one-sided contest, the Jillaroos ruthlessly ran in 15 tries to underscore their status as the benchmark of the international game.
Despite the punishing scoreboard, England’s attention has already shifted from the disappointment in Perth to a crucial cross-country journey to Wollongong. There, they face a winner-takes-all clash against Samoa on Friday at 6:45 am GMT. A victory in that fixture is all that stands between England and second place in Group A, which would secure their passage through to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Reflecting on the psychological state of his squad in the immediate aftermath of the match, Barrow revealed that the players themselves were keen to draw a line under previous heavy losses to the same opponents.
"There are some people in the group who were at Vegas and they’re in the changing room saying ‘this wasn’t like Vegas, it doesn’t feel like Vegas, you’re not part of what happened at Vegas – this is different’," Barrow told reporters after the match.
"Yeah, we didn’t help ourselves and the scoreline’s still big, but I think people have still got some positivity in there and people don’t want to go home. They want to have this game against Samoa and give our best."
The match itself proved an uphill battle from the opening whistle as Australia’s electrifying outside backs exerted immediate pressure. Winger Jaime Chapman signaled the tone of the evening by scoring two tries within the opening six minutes. By the time the half-time whistle sounded, the Jillaroos had already amassed a commanding 36-0 lead, leaving England with a mountain to climb.
Even so, Barrow was keen to highlight the distinct shift in attitude and defensive commitment from his youthful side compared to past encounters against the world-class Australians.
"We had to change the way we were going as a group [after Vegas] and we made a lot of changes to bring a young group in," Barrow added, pointing toward the long-term development pathway currently being forged. "This young group is going to develop and keep developing, and that’s a good learning curve from tonight."
Elaborating on the nature of the performance, Barrow acknowledged that while the final margin was painful, the tangible effort on the pitch offered reason for optimism.
"I thought we fought really well for the whole 70 minutes, and that may sound a little bit silly when you’ve conceded that many points, but it felt different," Barrow explained. "I thought we competed, but we got beat by a far better team with just too much quality.
"It’s really disappointing when you see a score like that. You can’t be happy with it in any way, shape or form, but it felt different. It felt like we competed a lot more on plays. I don’t think we give up, I thought we just kept trying, but once they get a roll on like that, I don’t think any team in the world can compete with them. They’re just too quick, they’re too skilful, and they’re too fast for our girls at that stage."
The challenge now for the coaching staff is to ensure the heavy defeat does not derail the confidence built during the earlier stages of their tournament campaign. England had started the competition with considerable promise, displaying highly encouraging signs during a dominant 70-6 victory over Wales. In that fixture, the attacking fluency and defensive organization provided a glimpse of what the squad is truly capable of achieving when operating at their best.
Barrow is eager to channel those positive memories as the squad prepares for the defining test against Samoa.
"We’ve talked in there about what we’ve been doing really well in training and what we did in patches last week against Wales – we can’t forget that because of this loss, we’ve got to remember some of that stuff," Barrow insisted.
"I think it was important that we talked in there about our effort areas and how we continue to turn up for each other, and that’s going to stand us in good stead in the future. Listen, we got blown away by an excellent team. A team I think is, probably, one of the best sporting teams in the world across all sports at the moment. They’re dominant and you want to go in there and you want to compete with them.
"We tried at certain areas, but eventually they were just too good and too strong. We’ve got to stick to our processes, get back on the horse and get ready for another game next week."
England’s tournament fate now rests entirely on Friday morning’s final pool fixture against Samoa in Wollongong. Should England secure the win they require, they will advance to the semi-finals, where they are scheduled to face the team that finishes at the summit of Pool B in the opening semi-final match, which is set to take place in Newcastle on November 7.