England 64-0 France: Tries for four Valkyrie as Lionesses run riot

Tamzin Renouf, Tara Jane Stanley, Sinead Peach and the departing Hollie-Mae Dodd all crossed the whitewash for the Lionesses in a dominant display, with Stanley also notching eight goals from the tee.

St Helens winger Leah Burke rightly took the plaudits for a sensational performance down the wing however, the first of her four scores coming just moments into the encounter.

The 12-try victory marked England’s first under their new-look management of both head coach Stuart Barrow and captain Jodie Cunningham and set them back firmly on course after their defeat to New Zealand in last year’s Rugby World Cup Semi-Final.

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And the double-header also proved fruitful for a much-changed England Men, who beat France by the same scoreline that evening, despite fielding a team comprising of only Betfred Super League players, just four of whom had been previously capped.

Leeds Rhinos’ Ash Handley and captain George Williams both scored hat-tricks for the Three Lions, while Harry Smith, Ethan Havard, Jack Wardle, Kai Pearce-Paul and Danny Walker also broke through the French line to crash over for England.

Four Valkyrie – Stanley, Dodd, Renouf, and Liv Wood – were named by Barrow in the England starting line-up, with the head coach favouring Leeds’ Keara Bennett instead of Peach at hooker to allow the York star to exploit a tiring France defence during the second half.

The hosts made a dream start when Stanley’s kick-off forced a knock on, capitalising on the goal-line drop out to cross for the game’s opening score inside two minutes.

Building on their attack, half-back Georgia Roche, who will be joining Dodd in the NRLW later this year, fed Burke to cross into the corner, before Stanley’s conversion cannoned off the uprights.

Burke was held up on the line as England continued to push forward, but she soon had her brace, linking up with Stanley down the left to touch down.

Shona Hoyle was next to cross for the Lionesses, profiting from Dodd’s carry forward to twist out of an attempted tackle and power her way over the line in the 21st minute, Stanley making no mistake to add her first extras of the afternoon to fire her side into a 14-0 lead.

England, now running riot, added a fourth try three minutes later after Emily Rudge set up Renouf, who, after a sublime show of hands, provided another of her now trademark bursts forward to cross into the right corner, Stanley again adding the extras.

Tamzin Renouf crossed for a trademark try against France down the right edge. (Image: Craig Hawkhead)

Peach was introduced into the attack before Renouf turned provider for St Helens winger Eboni Partington to score on debut, reigning Woman of Steel Stanley also adding her name to the scoresheet moments later after slicing through a gap in the visitors’ defence to give her side a 30-0 advantage at the break.

Dodd, who will link up with Canberra Raiders later this month, was the first to cross for England after the interval, bringing a touch of her flair and ‘dancing feet’ to the international stage close to the line to profit from Peach’s delightful offload from dummy half.

And Burke had her hat-trick from the restart as the Lionesses’ flurry of tries continued, collecting Stanley’s perfectly-weighted kick to stroll unchallenged across the line.

NRLW-bound star Hollie-Mae Dodd burrowed over from close range to open the scoring for England in the second half. (Image: Craig Hawkhead)

The tries kept on coming for England, with Dodd, who had gained 116 metres by the 51st minute, bursting onto a pass from Valkyrie teammate Grace Field and beating the covering defender to cross the whitewash, before Peach grounded the ball on the line from dummy half to see England pass the half-century.

Burke had her fourth with a little over 10 minutes remaining after being played in by Roche, before Rhinos’ centre Amy Hardcastle completed the scoring three minutes from time after diving over from Jodie Cunningham’s offload to cap a memorable afternoon for the Lionesses.