After that devastating defeat to Australia in Las Vegas, England women’s captain Jodie Cunningham reflects on how the team have reacted since and the road to redemption which began with a recent victory over Wales.

MARCH 2nd, 2025 – To many, it was a dark day for women’s rugby league in England.

That was the day when, on the biggest stage in Las Vegas, the leading players in this country went down 90-4 to World Champions Australia in a one-sided encounter that stole the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The England players involved came in for much criticism – most of it unnecessarily cruel and not game-related – and some were even left questioning whether they wanted to remain in the game following the result and the abuse they received.

But roll on five months and England returned to the field with a new-look squad, a new resolve and a new attitude. The reset button has well and truly been hit, and the 62-0 win over Wales proved a positive first step as England regrouped ahead of next year’s World Cup.

“That game against Australia in Las Vegas was one of the worst times I have had in an England shirt or as part of an England squad, and I have never experienced the negativity that surrounded that trip and the fallout off the back of it,” international captain Jodie Cunningham told Rugby League World.

“If I go back five or ten years, it would only be friends and family watching you, so there was always a lot of positivity, whatever happened, because those people commenting on the game were people close to those playing.

“Whereas now we have a genuine fan base and there is genuine public interest in what we do. That means, as with every other sport and every other sports person, you then have to accept the criticism and negativity when things aren’t great.

“So in a way, the negativity was a reflection of how far the game has come over the last few years, that so many people did have an opinion on our performance and what we did out there. So we can try to spin some of the criticism that way as we try to move forward from it.

“It’s also good that the team against Wales was a very different group to the one that made that trip.

“There were a lot of girls making their debuts in the game, and some of them were completely new to the England squad, so they didn’t carry those demons from Vegas and were just excited to get out there and put the best foot forward in an England shirt.

“For me, as one of the more senior girls and one of the ones who went out there, it was just important to get back out there as part of an England group, show what we can do and put that behind us a little bit because that wasn’t a true reflection of what we are as an England team.

“The Wales game was much tougher than the scoreline suggests. They were a tough and physical side, and they created some real chances to put points on us – it was just some good scramble defence that kept the clean sheet.

“We were a bit sloppy in the first half, but that was to be expected with a lot of nerves and the group having such limited time together. We fixed things up in the second half though and scored some brilliant tries.

“The game in Vegas didn’t really feel like a building block to the World Cup, because it was such a big individual opportunity, experience, and event, and it was about making the most of that one game. But playing Wales was different – it was an important milestone in our journey to that tournament.

“There were a lot of fresh faces in the squad, and they all proved that they are good enough to perform on the international stage. Hopefully, we will get a chance to run out as England again before that tournament next year to develop those combinations further.”

Coach Stuart Barrow handed six players their international debuts at the Gnoll in Neath, with Wigan quartet Grace Banks, Jenna Foubister, Eva Hunter and Molly Jones handed their first caps. They were joined by Leeds Rhinos’ Lucy Murray and Ruby Bruce in pulling on an England shirt for the first time.

Foubister, Jones, Murray and Hunter, twice, all marked their debuts with tries, while Bruce’s hard work put her Rhinos team mate Bella Sykes over for a further score as England touched down 11 times during the victory – Anna Davies (two), Isabel Rowe, Eboni Partington and Georgia Wilson also crossed.

Of the six debutants, Murray was the oldest at 22 years old, and for Cunningham, the youthful enthusiasm players like these have added to the squad has not only been a breath of fresh air for this camp, but also sends out a strong message when it comes to the future of the game.

“Going into the Wales game, it was not necessarily about what was the very best team we could put out right now to perform at our very best in that one game. It was asking what we needed to learn ourselves and the young girls, and the amazing talent we have in Super League,” added Cunningham.

“The maturity level of the young girls who have come in has blown me away, especially when I think back to when I was getting in the squad for the first time and how intimidated and overawed I was by the situation.

“But these young girls have so much confidence, and that’s because they’re doing it at the top level and they’ve already had so many experiences.

“The Wigan girls like Jenna, Grace, Eva and Molly have all performed on the big stage, playing live on BBC and Sky, and have all stepped up to the mark. So while they come in the squad having never played for England before, they know what it’s like to perform under pressure.

“They have already got so much maturity in the way they approach their game, and that’s what makes it exciting to think how they could be in 12 months, two years, three years, four years.

“All the debutants were outstanding and four of them got on the scoresheet, which is such a special moment.

“The maturity in the performance for a squad with so little experience was brilliant, and they all proved the future is bright for this game.

“When girls like that come into the squad, it makes my job as captain easier. They all know what they want, they know what they’re doing, and they know how they need to act in that environment because the standards are so high at Super League clubs now – they know how to be a professional athlete.

“You have got to have confidence in yourself and these girls have that, but my job is to bring that out of them and make sure they know how good they are, why they have been selected and make them believe they are the right person to walk out in that shirt with that badge on their chest.”

Cunningham’s job as captain of the squad now is in stark contrast to how it was in the immediate aftermath of Vegas, when she had to deal with her own disappointments, while also having to remain the strong and experienced head to all around her.

“I was left questioning myself, my own leadership and, as one of the few who had played Australia before and knew a little more about what we’d be coming up against, if I did everything I could to prepare the squad for that game.

“I was also having to support the players through that defeat when I’d never really been on the end of a scoreline like that before – and definitely not in a game of that magnitude.

“I had to process all of those emotions of my own, but also make sure I was there for the other girls to express their feelings in the right way, and that was a challenge.

“I probably didn’t get it all right, but I learnt a lot from it. There were things in the press and in the aftermath that I’ve since looked back and thought ’this is what the team would need if in that situation again’, or ’this is how I could handle it a bit better’.

“I have been lucky enough to captain quite a few sides over my career, but that was the toughest time I have had in leading a group of players.”

But with those dark days now firmly behind her, the 33-year-old can feel confident that both the short-term and long-term future of the game is looking bright.

“I look around in absolute awe of the squad and the players we’ve got now,” added Cunningham.

“It is crazy to think of the girls who were missing in the squad that faced Wales, whether through injury or just not being selected.

“Add to that the four girls we have out in Australia – Fran Goldthorp, Hollie Mae Dodd, Georgia Roche and Paige Travis. They are killing it every week out there at a really intense level, and they are going to bring so much into a future squad. We also have all the talk around heritage players and what that might potentially mean for England.

“I looked at the squad selected to take on Wales and thought ’Wow, it’s incredible’ but if we had everyone available and everyone’s hat was in the ring, I can only imagine how strong we could be.

“And that gives us so much hope and optimism around what we can put out on the field next year in the World Cup.”

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 512 (September 2025)