Amy Hardcastle and Tara-Jane Stanley lead England to 11-try rout of Wales

England scored 11 tries in a ruthless 60-0 victory over Wales at Headingley.

Amy Hardcastle opened England’s account with two tries before further scores from Shona Hoyle and Caitlin Beevers seemingly put England out of sight at the half-time break.

England showed no mercy in the second period, rushing over the whitewash seven more times courtesy of a Tara-Jane Stanley double alongside contributions from Lacey Owen, Georgia Roche, Tamzin Renouf, Keara Bennett and Emily Rudge.

England took the lead in the eighth minute. After the hooter sounded for a repeat set, the hosts threw the ball right to left and Hardcastle was waiting on the left edge before she flew over the whitewash, with Stanley’s kick making it 6-0.

England had the lead but looked to grow further into the contest and had a second just under 10 minutes later as Roche sent Hardcastle over for her second of the afternoon.

The home side threatened to take the game away from Wales just 24 minutes into the contest and after some neat work from Tara Jones and Jodie Cunningham, the ball landed in the hands of Hoyle who bundled over beneath the sticks to make it 16-0.

Wales attacks were few and far between in the first period but after Vicky Molyneux, in her final game before international retirement, was sin-binned they had a chance to open their account five minutes before the break – only for Georgia Taylor to knock on with the try line at her mercy.

England made Wales pay for their missed chance with another try on the hooter as Hardcastle broke away with a length-of-the-pitch run before she was brought down just before the line by Leanne Burnell, only for Beevers to dive over in the next play to put them 20-0 up heading into the interval.

The second half started in the same fashion with England dominant, and they opened their account for the half just five minutes after the interval when Stanley proved too strong for the Welsh defence.

England had 30 on the board with half an hour still to play when Owen crashed over on her debut appearance.

Five minutes later, England added another when NRL star Roche weaved her way through the Welsh defence single-handed and touched down to help make it 36-0.

England seemed to put points on the board every time they came forward and Stanley yet again picked holes in the Wales line before she crashed over and added the extras.

Renouf was next to get in on the act as she easily ran over and Stanley’s kicking proved to be excellent, landing her sixth conversion, this time from the touchline.

Bennett added another before Rudge scored England’s final try of the afternoon under the posts to cap off a dominant display.