England players’ reaction to their 82-0 pool game win over Kazakhstan in the WRWC

Charlotte Barras on the Charge - Photo Credit Seiser Photography

England and Worcester back Danielle Waterman said:“I’m really pleased with the game. I came off the bench, but the girls started well and we all carried that on. I have to give all credit to Kazakhstan. They hit us hard, they disrupted our ball and they played to the end. It was a great result for England and now I’m just looking forward to the next pool game against USA.

“Playing at scrum half brought back a few memories from way back when, when I started playing rugby! It was good fun to play there this evening and it was a great experience with LaToya at ten and Amy Turner at 12. Having three nines on the pitch was awesome!”

England and Worcester winger Katherine Merchant said: “I really enjoyed the game. It was great to get another win. Unfortunately as Michaela got injured I got more time than I expected on the pitch.I got one touch and scored from that first touch so the girls will give me banter for that. I also made a big tackle which I don’t usually do on the wing! So I’ll probably get a bit of banter for that too!

“At the breakdown Kazakhstan were really physical. They just kept piling people in and we did well to deal with it as they’re big girls and they’re powerful.”

England and Richmond hooker Emma Croker said: “It was a fantastic game. It was a really great opportunity to start in an England shirt and to show what we can do. It was tough as they were very good upfront and they made a really physical impact on the game so we had to work hard to move them wide and give our backs space to move in."

“They committed well to the break down. They made it hard for us. They turned over a few break down situations which we’ll need to work on, but once we moved it wide they struggled to keep up with the pace of our backs.”

England and Lichfield flanker Sarah Hunter said: “It was tough to get out there and start in an England shirt, but it was a great game for us. There was obviously a really high scoreline but Kazakhstan were really tough opponents. They didn’t give in right until the very end. We worked for every single point we could get.

“I am feeling a bit sore now. They were a really physical side and took it to us all the way. We had to work for the full 80 minutes so I’m definitely feeling it now!

“For USA we will obviously look at the video of the Kazakhstan match tomorrow and see what we can improve on, then take that in and use it against the USA and hopefully earn another victory when we play them on Saturday. They’re a very strong physical side with great pace in their backs so they’re going to be a really tough opposition for us so bring on Saturday!”

Katy McLean- photo Empics

England Captain and Darlington Mowden Park Sharks fly half Katy McLean said: “It was a really good game. Obviously going into it was nerve-wrecking as I was captaining the team but the girls had an amazing game and there were some really good individual performances so I’m really pleased that we won.

“I’m definitely happy with the win. We knew we had to go and perform in that game and not worry about points. For us it was more about the performance and there were some really pleasing bits of that game from the whole squad. Obviously there’ll still be stuff to work on but overall I’m hoping the coaches will be pleased.”

England and Wasps scrum half LaToya Mason said: “It was a really good game. They were really physical and hit us back a lot but it was great to get out there and play a match and put some stuff together as a team.

“Moving from nine to ten was awesome. It was my first time at ten for England and being able to play in two different positions and keep calm was great.

“I’m pleased with my kicking. I got four out of five conversions. I practised a lot during the week so it all paid off.”

Fiona Pocock - photo Empics

England Player of the Match and Richmond winger Fiona Pocock said:“I’m feeling quite overwhelmed. The match happened in the blink of an eye. I don’t really remember any of it! But I know that it was a really tough match. We had to stay fighting for 80 minutes as Kazakhstan defended their hearts out. It was really tough to get past them.

“I’m pleased with my performance and getting a hat trick, but it was a good team effort from the whole team. I just finished off their good work so I was happy to do that for them.

“We definitely revised our structure after the Ireland game and we tried to maintain that throughout the 80 minutes. We lost it a few times but that was because Kazakhstan were so spontaneous in the way they played which is a testament to them really as they surprised us in every way. But we’ve just got to keep our eye on the prize and we look forward to the next match.

England and Darlington Mowden Park Sharks second row Tamara Taylor said:“I feel good about that game. I’m really tired as they were very physical so we’ve got a few aching bodies but it was a really good game.

“I felt like I did a lot of rucking. The breakdowns were very hard as they put a lot of numbers in so we had to be pretty physical ourselves and I felt like I was going from ruck to ruck to ruck so it was hard work!

“I think we controlled our set piece well. They changed their numbers in the line out which was really hard to defend against so they did well there. Our line-out worked pretty well and I felt comfortable with it. I think our scrums were pretty dominant. It’s an area we’ve been working on so that was good for us.

“I’m looking forward to USA. It was a very close game between them and Ireland today, (22-12) and they’ll obviously be looking to try and get a win for the last match of the pool. I’m hoping everyone recuperates well so we can go again.”

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