Comment: No ‘Brighton Miracle’ as Red Roses recover to beat Wallaroos in result that ends Ilona Maher and USA’s World Cup
Red Roses recover to beat Wallaroos in Rugby World Cup pool game in Brighton.
This time there is no need for a blue plaque. Hollywood executives won’t be beating a path to Brighton fighting for the rights to retell this one on the silver screen.
A largely uneventful evening at the scene of Japan’s never-to-be-forgotten Rugby World Cup win over South Africa saw England avoid the fate that befell Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks a decade ago.
Without being anywhere near their best John Mitchell’s side booked a quarter-final against Scotland, in Bristol next Sunday, whilst Australia also advanced and will face Canada in the last eight.
Underwhelming
For those who had come in search of another ‘miracle’, it was all a bit underwhelming.
The only real news line was that Ilona Maher, rugby’s most followed star on social media, exits the tournament with her USA team as a result.
It was a far cry from 2015 when rugby visited this sun-kissed corner of England and left an indelible mark; Japan’s win that day so momentous that Meyer felt the need to issue a public apology to South Africa.
A plaque was later laid in the corner of the Amex Stadium where Karne Hesketh scored the last-gasp try winner for Eddie Jones’ minnows and ‘The Brighton Miracle’ was made into a major film.
This is, of course, first and foremost a result business and England will be a whole lot happier than their male counterparts were when losing to Australia and crashing out of that same World Cup in the pool stages.
Jamie George was part of that squad and was on hand in Sussex to remind them of that as England’s girls voiced disappointment with their performance.
“We didn’t (handle the expectation) very well back then, whereas it feels the girls are having such a good time,” he said, enviously.
“Probably what we got wrong was we tried to hide away from it. Why would you not embrace what an amazing atmosphere this is? You see how much it means to people and you can see the girls are relishing that. That’s probably something we didn’t do.”
For half an hour England were a pale imitation of their normal selves, their game riddled with error and inaccuracy. It was almost as though they lacked focus, that having qualified a week ago left them unsure as to what their mission was.
Australia, in contrast, knew precisely what was expected of them. The USA’s 60-0 defeat of Samoa earlier in the afternoon meant they had to either to keep the margin of defeat below 76 points or claim a four-try bonus point.
That clarity showed as the Wallaroos struck first, winning a scrum penalty then from the penalty lineout hooker Adiana Talakai hitting her jumper, getting the ball back and driving over.
She did it in the corner where Hesketh wrote his name into history a decade ago and when Samantha Wood nailed the conversion from out wide the mind defaulted back to that storied afternoon.
Who can forget the finish, Japan gambling the house by twice turning down kicks at goal that would have earned a draw in favour of one shot at glory? Amanaki Mafi stretching play wide as the clock turned red and throwing Hesketh the glory pass?
A Japanese journalist sat next to me in the press box that afternoon burst into tears. Even Jones, head coach of the Brave Blossoms, was briefly lost for words.
The chance of a repeat here was on the far side of remote given England have lost only one match since 2019 and topped 40 points on each of their last two games against the Aussies.
Order was quickly restored with Ellie Kildunne making up for an earlier knock-on by moving England into range upfield, from where Zoe Harrison put Jess Breach in for her 53rd try on the occasion of her 50th cap.
But it would be another 20 minutes before England found any sort of rhythm. They were denied a second when Amy Cokayne dropped the ball over the try line. The loss of prop Hannah Botterman to an acute back spasm caused further disruption.
With seven minutes of the first half to play the Wallaroos led 7-5 and, truth be told, were probably pinching themselves. It was not that they were undeserving, more that England had played so far below their base level.
Dam had to burst
The feeling around a packed Amex was that the dam had to eventually burst and that is what happened after Abby Ward dived over to put England ahead for the first time.
Within six minutes Sadia Kabeya, who is enjoying a fine tournament, claimed the host nation’s third try, before adding her second shortly after half-time following alert work from Mo Hunt in pouncing on an error in the Aussie backfield.
England tries flowed freely after that, to the delight of a 30,443 crowd. Kelsey Clifford added two more before Sarah Bern got in on the act. Australia had so much of a cushion in terms of points difference they did not worry unduly.
It was that sort of a day. A celebration of rugby without jeopardy. All that changes now, of course, with the arrival of the knockout stages. Just don’t expect that to affect the party mood.