England record dominant win over Wales at Women's Rugby League World Cup

England record a dominant 70-6 win over Wales in their opening match of the Women's Rugby League World Cup; Former Lioness Paige Travis secured Wales' first ever try at the tournament; England take on a vaunted Australia side on October 25, with Wales facing Samoa the day before

Connie Boyd and Anna Davies both notched hat-tricks as England recorded a dominant 70-6 rout of Wales in their opening game of the Women's Rugby League World Cup.

The Lionesses took the lead just four minutes into the game and never let up, scoring 13 tries in a sensational victory against a weak Welsh side that lacked quality in both attack and defence.

Boyd, Davies, and Isabel Rowe stood out, with the latter ending the match with a 26-point haul after scoring two tries and recording nine successful conversion attempts.

The win gives Stuart Barrow's side a valuable platform in the pool stage ahead of their next match against a vaunted Australia side next Saturday, while Wales have work to do against Samoa to stand any chance of progressing.

Some deft attacking play from England early on set up Amelia Brown to bundle over after just four minutes, but Wales took advantage of some sloppy handling and an eventual penalty that allowed former England international Paige Travis to level the scores with Wales' first World Cup try.

Their parity, though, was short-lived, with Megan Williams, Jasmin Strange, and Isabel Rowe linking up neatly to give centre Georgia Wilson a clear path to the tryline, before Hollie-Mae Dodd's sharp offload allowed Connie Boyd to score on debut just three minutes later, giving England a 10-point lead after 24 minutes.

Wales struggled to contain England's rapid tempo from then on, with Dodd, Boyd's second of the day, a stunning solo effort from Anna Davies, and Rowe's try on the stroke of half-time adding 24 points - thanks in no small part to Rowe's excellent goal-kicking - to the scoreline to give England a seemingly unassailable 40-6 at the break.

The second half began in a similar fashion, with debutant Strange bundling over just after the restart, before Rowe crossed to take her side to a mammoth total of 50 points.

Winger Brown scored the try of the day minutes afterwards with a sensational run down the wing after receiving a kick behind her own tryline.

Interchange Jenna Foubister then produced a brilliant offload to facilitate Boyd's hat-trick six minutes from time, with Davies going over twice in the final minutes to complete her treble and put the cherry on top of a brilliant victory to begin her side's World Cup campaign.