Full-back Ellie Kildunne is set to miss England’s World Cup quarter-final against Scotland after suffering a head injury during Saturday’s 47-7 win over Australia.
The 2024 world player of the year was forced off early in the second period in Brighton following a worrying whiplash incident.
England secured top spot in Pool A by coming from behind at the Amex Stadium to equal their own world record of 30 consecutive Test victories.
But success came at a cost, with Kildunne facing a mandatory minimum 12-day stand-down period after showing concussion symptoms, while loosehead prop Hannah Botterman departed in the opening period due to a back spasm.
The Red Roses face Scotland in the last eight of the tournament next Sunday at Ashton Gate in Bristol.
Head coach John Mitchell said: “Ellie will go through return-to-play protocols.
“There is normally a 12-day stand down. She is fine. She’ll be frustrated because she had a difficult day at the office. She’ll get better.”
Asked for an update on Botterman, Mitchell replied: “Han’s got a muscle spasm, so that will take its course.”
Sadia Kabeya and Kelsey Clifford claimed two tries apiece as England bounced back from a shaky start during which Adiana Talakai’s converted try gave Australia a surprise lead.
In front of a crowd of 30,443, including the Princess of Wales, Jess Breach, Abbie Ward and Sarah Bern also crossed, while fly-half Zoe Harrison successfully slotted six of seven conversion attempts.
“We didn’t start well, we looked a little bit clunky, a bit untidy in attack, but I thought our defence was outstanding,” said Mitchell.
“Sometimes attack doesn’t go for you, so it’s something that was in our own control – it wasn’t something that Australia were doing to us.
“We’ll just go back and reflect on our preparation.”
England had already guaranteed a place in the knockout stages thanks to crushing wins over the USA and Samoa, while Australia only needed to avoid an improbable defeat of 76 points or more.
The Wallaroos progressed as group runners-up – ahead of the United States on points difference – and will face Canada in the last eight.
Australia head coach Jo Yapp, a former England captain, said: “The scoreline blew out a little bit in that second half.
“The first half we were really in the game and were really competitive and we were executing what we wanted to do. But we always knew England were going to come out hard in the second half.
“Ultimately, we’ve got to the quarters, which was the first thing that we wanted to make sure we did, and there were areas of the game that were really positive.
“But there are areas that we clearly need to focus on. We lost a little bit of a platform to play off in that second half, so we’ll look at that and we’ll preview Canada and we’ll pick ourselves up for next week.”
