- Published
Mention of Las Vegas is enough to send a shiver down the spine of any England women's rugby league supporter.
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Mention → publish → supporter
Not because of lost life savings on the slot machines or undercooked food at the buffet, but because England fell to a record 90-4 defeat by Australia at the Allegiant Stadium in Nevada.
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England → lose → Nevada
The meeting between England and Australia in March 2025 had been touted as the first in a three-match Test series.
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meeting → tout → series
It was meant to be the beginning of a regular Women's Ashes competition between two historic rivals and form a large part of world rugby league's charm offensive in the US.
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It → mean → US
Instead it served up a sobering reminder of the gulf between the Jillaroos - the winners of the previous three World Cups - and England, who shipped 17 tries in a lopsided affair.
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who → serve → affair
The sight of Georgia Roche, who scored England's only try, in tears at the final whistle and being consoled by her opponents only added to the suffering of English fans who made the trip.
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who → score → trip
The outcome also led many to believe the game in the northern hemisphere had reached a new nadir - with England's World Cup prospects almost dismissed out of hand as a result.
However, it has also delivered a seismic shift in England head coach Stuart Barrow's thinking.
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it → lead → thinking
Few of those selected for this tournament bear the scars of that encounter, with a youthful and dynamic squad featuring only six of the team from the Sin City debacle.
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Few → select → debacle
And Barrow says excitement, not trepidation, is the feeling in the England camp as they get ready to face the World Cup co-hosts in Perth on Saturday (10:05 BST).
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they → say → Saturday
"The youngsters coming in think that they can do better than what we did last time and I fully back that and believe them as well," Barrow said.
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Barrow → come → them
"I don't think they've [Australia] been beaten internationally for a long time, but that's exciting.
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that → think → time
"If you're a young player coming into this group and coming to represent your country in a World Cup on the other side of the world, you want to play the best.
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you → come → best
"People were saying, 'do we want to avoid teams?'
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we → say → teams
When you come all this way, you want to pit yourself as an athlete against the best.
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you → come → best
So there is excitement among the group but they're all very aware and very respectful of who we're playing."
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we → be → who
England need to step up
While England thrashed Wales 70-6 in their World Cup opener, Barrow acknowledged their preparations to face Australia were dealt a "devastating blow" when Jasmin Strange picked up a serious knee injury in training on Tuesday, ruling her out of the rest of the tournament.
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Strange → need → tournament
The absence of the Sydney Roosters second-row forward will be sharply felt by Barrow's squad as they take on opponents who have lost just once since 2016 and remain the benchmark at international level.
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who → feel → level
And Barrow insists that while their most recent encounter is "buried" and "in the past", he is using the chastening loss to help ensure England's readiness for this competition.
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he → insist → competition
"We learned a lot from it," he added.
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he → learn → it
"We've built on that through all our training over the last 18 months.
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We → build → months
We've got some senior players who were in that group at the time and it allows them to talk about what happened in that game to our young group.
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what → get → group
It allows them to talk about the difficulties, challenges and we can draw on the experience mainly from player to player."
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we → allow → player
With Australia opening their campaign with a 40-0 win over Samoa, Barrow says his side will have to step things up from last weekend.
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side → open → weekend
"We came up with some unforced handling errors on first.
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We → come → first
We weren't at such a high completion rate but our skill with the ball let us get away with that," Barrow added.
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Barrow → let → that
"You don't get that opportunity when you play the world champions.
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you → get → champions
If you're giving cheap ball away, then you're defending.
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you → give → ball
"We've done a lot of work about keeping possession and respecting the ball, but I also think we've got some exciting football in us when we get to the right end of the field to challenge them, so that's our aim."
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that → do → them
Meanwhile, Australia hooker Keeley Nizza has made it clear they will not take England lightly.
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they → make → England
"We definitely know about the rivalry," Nizza said.
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Nizza → know → rivalry
"Last year we played them in Vegas and there was a big score, but I think England are a very different team now."
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England → play → Vegas
Brown's special moment goes viral
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moment → go → ?
Along with heritage player Hope Millard, Barrow's new-look squad contains centre Connie Boyd, who crossed for a hat-trick on her debut.
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who → contain → debut
They also have Super League's Woman of Steel Jenna Foubister, 19, and her highly-rated Wigan team-mate Isabel Rowe, who kicked nine conversions alongside a couple of tries to record the highest points tally (26) in a single game by a female England player at a World Cup.
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who → have → Cup
Barrow, who has previously called Rowe and Foubister's partnership in the halves "telepathic" also has Huddersfield Giants winger Amelia Brown among his new group.
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who → call → group
The 22-year-old - a dog groomer by trade - scored two tries against Wales, the second of which went viral on social media after she ran 107 metres to score it.
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she → score → it
"My phone's been popping off, so it just feels good," Brown said.
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Brown → pop → ?
"Some of my family don't really understand social media.
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Some → understand → media
So they're like: What does this mean? What does that mean?
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that → mean → What
Barrow added: "You don't get many international tries that look like that, so to do that on your World Cup debut is outstanding.
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do → add → debut
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
