England beat Australia 48-15 to open WXV Global Series with 39th straight win

England recovered from a half-time deficit to beat Australia 48-15 at CorpAcq Stadium in Salford in their opening WXV Global Series match on Saturday. BBC Sport reported that the world champions scored seven tries after the interval to extend their record winning run to 39 matches, with 9,251 spectators watching their return to action.

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Australia led 10-5 at the break, the first time England had trailed at half-time since facing France in November 2020. Samantha Wood kicked an early penalty and Faliki Pohiva scored the Wallaroos' first-half try. Abi Burton, who was named player of the match, supplied England's only try before the interval as handling errors and inaccurate play disrupted the hosts' attack. Both teams also had tries disallowed.

The response came through a sustained burst of scoring. May Campbell, captain Meg Jones, Bryony Field, Mia Venner and Sadia Kabeya crossed during a dominant 20-minute spell, according to the BBC report. England combined the strength of their maul with more effective backline play, while improved accuracy helped them establish control after their difficult opening half.

Holly Aitchison marked her 50th cap by using a grubber kick to set up Jones' try. Lucy Packer and Claudia Moloney-MacDonald also scored as England added 43 points in the second half, while Asoiva Karpani supplied Australia's second try. Zoe Harrison kicked three conversions, with Aitchison adding another. The fixture was the first played with the new women's size 4.5 ball, which is 3% smaller than the standard size five.

Head coach John Mitchell treated the match as an opportunity for his players to regain match practice at the start of their 2026-27 campaign. Speaking to BBC Sport, he emphasised how England had solved problems after falling behind and the value of getting all 23 players involved. It was their first game since securing a record eighth consecutive Women's Six Nations title in May. Burton said England had recognised at half-time that their performance needed to improve.

The WXV Global Series replaces the previous WXV competition, whose leading division England won in 2023 and 2024. Featuring the world's top 12 teams, the new series runs from 2026 to 2028 ahead of the 2029 World Cup in Australia. England next meet Canada at Sandy Park in Exeter, their first encounter since last year's World Cup final, before hosting New Zealand at Allianz Stadium on 26 September.