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| England: (29) 89 |
| Tries: Cornborough, Dow, Thompson 2, Davies 2, Infante, Tuima, Aldcroft, Rowland, Cowell, Bern 2, Powell, Aitchison; Cons: Rowland 6, Harrison |
| United States: (0) 0 |
England ended their victorious autumn campaign in dominant style as they swept aside the United States with a 15-try win in Worcester.
The world number ones have beaten New Zealand twice and Canada in the past month and have now won 18 in a row.
Victory never looked in doubt, but there were signs of inexperience early on from the rotated England XV.
After the break, the Red Roses rediscovered their free-flowing attack and ran rampant at Sixways.
The result means England have scored 239 points across four games this autumn and conceded 39.
It has been a promising campaign, with the World Cup beginning next October, but England’s focus will first be on attempting to win a third Women’s Six Nations title in a row in April.
Dow shines for relentless England
When Vickii Cornborough crossed after just a minute of play, it was obvious the United States were in for a testing afternoon.
England full-back Abby Dow, called one of the best finishers in world rugby by head coach Simon Middleton earlier in November, did not make life any easier for the visitors.
The back seemed to repel defenders throughout the match and her explosive attack started early as she scored a stunning solo try, shrugging off four defenders and covering half the pitch to cross in the fifth minute.
As they have been all autumn, England were determined to keep up a relentless tempo in attack and line speed in defence.
It felt as if they had an extra player on the field and inevitably Lydia Thompson was the next one on the scoresheet, marking her 50th cap by scoring at her club’s home ground.
But with world player of the year nominee Poppy Cleall and experienced back row Marlie Packer two of the big names left out of an experimental squad, England’s lack of leadership in defence started to show.
There was hesitancy as the United States managed to sustain a period of pressure, but as soon as England got the ball, their Dow-powered attack shone.
The only thing as reliable as Dow is England’s improved set-piece and they continued to build the score as Lark Davies went over in a maul and Leanne Infante dove across the tryline from the base of a ruck.
More to follow.
Line-ups
England: Dow; Thompson, Aitchison, Tuima, Cowell; Rowland, Infante; Cornborough, Davies, Muir, Millar-Mills, Aldcroft (capt), Matthews, Kabeya, Beckett.
Replacements: Powell, Botterman, Bern, Burnfield, Hunter, Packer, Harrison, Kildunne.
United States: Hawkins; Detiveaux, Bonte, Howard, Canett; Foster, Waters; Rogers, Hamdan, Jacoby, Taufoou, Washington, Ehrecke, Zackary (capt), Sommer.
Replacements: Treder, Learned, James, Kronish, Cairns, Ortiz, Fa’avesi, Levy.
Referee: Julianne Zussman (Canada)
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