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England’s women’s rugby stars were inspired by the presence of Lionesses ace Chloe Kelly as they hammered Samoa 92-3 in their World Cup clash.
Football hero Kelly, the hero when England claimed European Championship glory earlier this summer, was in the crowd in Northampton and watched on as John Mitchell’s players plundered 14 tries in a totally one-sided contest.
Kelly visited the England dressing room at Franklin’s Gardens after the match and also appeared on the BBC’s match coverage to grow the profile of women’s sport.
Jess Breach scored a hat-trick as this mismatch between professionals and amateurs produced a predictable outcome with the Red Roses registering a 29th successive victory. Records tumbled in the process.
It was England’s highest number of points scored in a World Cup match and their biggest margin of victory, while player of the match Helena Rowland's individual haul of 27 points was the most in the nation's history.
Rowland carved out her own slice of Red Roses history with the final act of the game when she converted Claudia Moloney-MacDonald's try.
Lionesses hero Chloe Kelly watched England hammer Samoa in the Women's World Cup
Kelly was in the crowd in Northampton and saw plenty of action as England scored 14 tries
Jess Breach (left) scored a hat-trick in what was a totally one-sided match
Breach led the charge by lifting her total of Test tries to 52 with a trio of classy finishes and there was an eye-catching double from Megan Jones.
The win came even though head coach Mitchell had made 13 changes to the starting XV after the USA had been thrashed in the tournament opener in Sunderland.
Samoa's head coach Ramsey Tomokino described the showdown against a side who have never lost a World Cup group game as 'mission impossible' and it took just 172 seconds for the size of the task to hit home.
The Islanders' early tackling was ferocious but their organisation failed to match their intent, especially in the wider channels where Jones was the first over in the third minute before Breach showed her pace to finish in the right corner.
The drizzle at a gloomy Franklin's Gardens took a toll on both sides' handling, but the flow of points from England did not let up with Sarah Bern burrowing over from close range before Jones added her second.
And when Maddie Feaunati and Lark Atkin-Davies touched down to reward the power of their pack, the lead grew to 40-0 with only 30 minutes on the clock.
Samoa were being run ragged and were already showing signs of tiring. Lucy Packer added England's seventh try.
The arrival of replacement tighthead Tori Losefo in the 33rd minute had steadied Samoa's scrum and early in the second half they won a penalty at the set-piece that was slotted over by Vatau, igniting wild celebrations.
England crossed for try after try against Samoa who were never going to put up a fight
Kelly (wearing red hat) was the hero as the Lionesses won the European Championship
England then had to roll their sleeves up in defence and having weathered the storm, they advanced downfield to score through Kelsey Clifford before Breach went over for her second.
Rowland struck and converted her own try, putting her joint level with Nicky Crawford and Sue Day as England's record points scorer in a World Cup game on 25, but she was unable to push clear by failing to convert after tries from Marlie Packer and Breach.
When Moloney-MacDonald crossed in the 80th minute, she had one last chance to nail the record and over went the touchline conversion.
