- Footy fans have slammed the NRL after the Jillaroos’ drubbing of England
- Australia put 90 points past Stuart Barrow’s England side in Las Vegas
Footy fans and commentators have questioned the Jillaroo’s drubbing of England with some claiming that rugby league bosses must assess who Australia play next year during the Las Vegas extravaganza.
England suffered a record defeat at the hands of Australia, conceding 17 tries against the reigning world champions.
It was a sobering defeat for Stuart Barrow’s Lionesses, who were bested by a brilliant Australian side that ran rings around their opponents.
Julia Robinson and Jessica Sergis both scored a trio of tries each, while Tamika Upton wrapped up a brilliant night in the USA for Australia with a haul of five tries.
Following on from the success of last year’s rugby league extravaganza in Las Vegas, the game’s bosses were hopeful that this year’s matches would help grow the profile of the sport further afield.
But the 90-4 drubbing by the Jillaroos has left some commentators questioning whether Australia need to find new opponents next year, with some even claiming that the landslide victory does not do the sport’s profile any good.
Australia ran in 17 tries as the Jillaroos thumped England 90-4 in Las Vegas on Sunday
Tamika Upton scored five tries to help the world champions seal the landslide victory
‘I hate that female athletes are sometimes made to feel they must put on a good contest to justify playing on a big stage,’ AAP reporter Scott Bailey wrote on X. ‘But, who the Jillaroos play in Vegas next year must be looked at. A 90-4 flogging doesn’t help sell the sport when the female game can be a growth space in the USA.’
7News reporter Jelisa Apps also added: ‘The next step in the women’s game is to get as many international players into to #NRLW as possible because honestly matches like this do absolutely nothing for the women’s game. #NRLVegas.’
Some footy fans took to X to voice their own opinions following the result.
‘I felt terrible for the English girls and think the organisers did them a terrible disservice by organising that matchup,’ one wrote.
‘It doesn’t help anyone and it’s certainly not a spectacle to promote the game.
‘Part of sport is fair competition and there was nothing fair about that matchup.’
Another added: ‘Honestly it’s up to those countries to support their own female players and create their own professional pathways.
‘Seven years ago this was a close game. It’s a testament to the NRLW that Australian football is 50 points better than the English in seven short years. We should have played New Zealand.’
Barrow, meanwhile, stated his side were left humbled by Australia on Sunday night.
Footy fans and commentators took to social media to voice their views on Australi’s drubbing vs England
England boss Stuart Barrow said Australia ‘blew England away’ during the match and added his side will take a lot of learnings from today’s match
‘It was a shock for a lot of our girls today,’ Barrow said, following the match.
‘Australia blew them away from the first five minutes because they haven’t experienced anything at that intensity in the domestic and in our internationals that we have previously played.
‘We tried to tell them that was coming. We watched a lot of video and tried to replicate that intensity in training but until you actually get out there and feel it… I think that caught the players by shock.’
But Barrow admitted that while the defeat was a tough blow to take, his players will take plenty of learnings from Sunday’s match adding that he did not regret the opportunity to play the 2021 World Cup winners.
‘It would’ve been really easy for us to just keep accepting the challenges of France and Wales in the Northern hemisphere… but we’ve learned some lessons today about what international rugby league is about at the highest level,’ he said.
‘We will take a lot of learnings away from that but obviously, we didn’t expect that result today.
‘We will have to review it and see where we go from here.’
