Red Roses emerge as Pool A winners ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinals

England were crowned as winners of Pool A of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 last night, after they defeated Australia 47 - 7.

This is the Red Roses’ third win of three games thus far in the tournament, and their thirtieth unbeaten game in a row, meaning that they head into the knockout rounds to face Pool B runners-up Scotland next weekend in Bristol.

However, despite the final major points difference, it was not the usual effortless win that the Red Roses have grown accustomed to. The Wallaroos, ranked sixth in the world and fueled their desire to beat the USA on points difference, put in a sensational performance.

England vs Australia match highlights 

After beginning with a powerful, aggressive maul, Australia had scored within six minutes, and held this lead for the first thirty minutes.

This is the longest that England have been on the back foot thus far in the competition, and they struggled to kick into gear, with a series of uncharacteristic handling errors and forwards passes.

However, Jess Breach, with her 50^th appearance for England, eventually turned the tide, scoring in the far left, and once England felt this momentum, they were back.

A huge 30 points in the second half meant that England ended the match comfortably ahead, with Kelsey Clifford and Sadia Kabeya both scoring twice.

England's quarterfinal position

This means that although England will be celebrating a picture perfect group campaign on paper, head coach John Mitchell will also be cracking down on the potential cracks that yesterday’s match showed in the English side.

However, he doesn’t seem to view England’s slow start in this match as a longtime danger, saying “we’ll go back and reflect on our preparation - some of the girls are a bit short on an extra unit session and stuff like that - but I thought the defence was outstanding”.

As Jo Yapp, Australia’s head coach, said “Everybody’s looking to try and beat England at the minute”, and with the stakes rapidly ramping up as we enter the knock-out rounds, Scotland will surely be looking to capitalise on the moments of weakness that the Wallaroos flagged up.

Rugby news and related content 

• LIVE: England vs Australia live score: Women's Rugby World Cup live coverage, highlights and more for final Pool A match, quarterfinal qualifier
• USA beat Samoa in their final attempt for Women’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal qualification
• Australia snag final quarterfinal place in Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025