England will face Australia in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup after a devastating demolition of South Africa.
A much-changed Red Roses side ran in no fewer than 13 tries without reply including hat-tricks from both Rosie Galligan and Connie Powell as they cruised to a 75-0 thrashing in Waitakere on Sunday.
A third successive win means England top Pool C ahead of France, who beat Fiji 44-0 in Whangarei, teeing up a last-eight showdown with Pool A runners-up Australia, 13-7 victors over Wales on Saturday.
Afterwards, head coach Simon Middleton hit back at the criticism his World Cup favourites had received after their hard-fought tussle with France last weekend.
"I thought the reaction after the France game was hilarious. It blew my mind to be honest," Middleton told ITV. “It was pretty disrespectful to France because they are the best defensive side in the world. They have some great players and that was a real arm wrestle of a Test match.
"There were a lot of nerves because everyone knew what was at stake, and now that's all unravelled. Winning the game was absolutely essential and we won the game categorically on everything but the scoreboard.
"We worked on some things during the week and they were really evident in the game against South Africa. We ticked some real boxes that we'd worked hard on. It's been a tough week for us. We got a great result and we're absolutely thrilled.
"We talked about being more expressive in the second half and playing in the space that we were being given. You see we can play a bit when we open up."
Harlequins lock Galligan would have finished with a fourth try had she not failed to ground the ball properly when over the line in the closing stages, but it was a rare error by England, who saw back rows Sadia Kabeya and Poppy Cleall touch down twice each.
There was one potential cloud on the horizon, however, as replacement prop Sarah Bern escaped with a yellow card in the final minute for a high tackle in an incident that could interest the citing officer.
England - with Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman watching on after yesterday’s women’s 2023 football World Cup draw in New Zealand - overcame the late withdrawal of prop Vickii Cornborough and centre Emily Scarratt from the bench because of minor injuries to cross five times in the first half alone.
Their driving maul was typically dominant as they raced to a 29-0 interval lead, but they then took advantage of tiring legs from their opponents to cut loose with a high-tempo offloading game.
Flanker Marlie Packer celebrated her first outing as captain by presiding over the Red Roses' 28th successive Test victory and scoring a try in the second half.
It was England's most emphatic victory of the group phase, having swept aside Fiji 84-19 and edged France 13-7, and they enter the knockout phase as Pool C winners, while South Africa's maiden World Cup is over.
For all their unchallenged progress into the last eight, concern lingers over England's reliance on their forwards and driving maul and whether they have a 'plan b' against top opposition.
Defeat for South Africa also ensured Wales' progression to the next round, where they will face New Zealand for the second time in the competition.
