'Statement' wins and 'special' crowds - World Cup talking points

England's Natasha Hunt takes a selfie with a fan

The opening round of fixtures at the Women's Rugby World Cup featured record wins and record attendances.

It showcased the fabulous footwork of England's Ellie Kildunne, a six-try Julia Schell performance, and the return of New Zealand World Cup legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe.

From significant wins for hosts England, Ireland and Scotland, to battling performances from minnows Fiji, Spain and Brazil, there was plenty to catch the eye.

Here are five talking points from the opening weekend.

Statement wins for the favourites

Big-hitters England, Canada and New Zealand all started with huge wins.

Hosts and favourites England scored 11 tries to beat Ilona Maher's United States 69-7 in the tournament's opener on Friday night.

After singer Anne-Marie shone in the opening ceremony, world player of the year Kildunne stood out on the pitch.

She produced the moment of the match by kicking the ball - like an England Lioness - through USA full-back Bulou Mataitoga's legs on her way to a superb solo try.

Prop forward Hannah Botterman also starred as England produced a statement win.

Even so, there was still a sense of more to come, with head coach John Mitchell insisting England "will get better" and be even more clinical.

That's a scary thought for the other teams in the tournament, especially the Red Roses' next opponents Samoa, who they face on Saturday (17:00 BST).

World number two side Canada were equally impressive as they thrashed Fiji 65-7 with winger Schell scoring a staggering six tries in the second half.

After the match Schell said a supporter had bet her $200 she wouldn't score. "I need to go and speak to him," she said.

Holders New Zealand swept past Spain 54-8 despite playing the final quarter of their match with only 13 players.

World Cup record try-scorer Woodman-Wickliffe went over for the 21st time in the competition, while 21-year-old flanker Jorja Miller crossed twice to confirm her status as a superstar in the making.

Three-time semi-finalists Australia, who are in England's pool, walloped Samoa 73-0 for the biggest World Cup win in their history, hinting that the Wallaroos could be contenders this year.

Underdogs make memories as gap emerges

South Africa skipped past debutants Brazil 66-6 and Ireland beat Japan 42-14.

In fact, the closest match in terms of points over the weekend was France's 24-0 win against Italy, and even that was a dominant shut-out between two Six Nations rivals.

Around the grounds, plenty of neutrals were backing underdogs as the gap in quality between teams started to show.

There was a wall of noise in support of the amateur Fijians when they scored a second-half try against Canada through Kolora Lomani.

Brazil, playing just their 17th Test match, were cheered on loudly when they collected their first World Cup points through the boot of fly-half Raquel Kochhann.

And Spain had the York Community Stadium crowd on their feet when Ines Antolinez crossed for a memorable try in overtime against six-time winners New Zealand.

"We came here trying to get the girls in Spain to be inspired by us," said head coach Juan Gonzalez. "So we are really happy with [that try]."

In every fixture bar one there was a sense of an established side sticking to the script against a less established rugby nation.

That was except for Scotland taking on Wales. In the Six Nations this year just three points separated the pair in a 24-21 Scotland win.

But in the World Cup this weekend it was one-way traffic as Scotland brilliantly overcame Wales 38-8.

Record crowd for England opener as fans back tournament

The World Cup attendance record was broken on the opening night as 42,723 watched England beat USA in Sunderland.

That beat the 42,579 who saw New Zealand win the final in 2022 at Eden Park.

England fans at the Stadium of Light made a formidable noise, urging the hosts forward.

"The fans definitely made a statement. You made that one really special," said England's Kildunne after the Test.

"Thank you to everybody that came, having rugby in the north is pretty special as well."

There was a party atmosphere among England supporters

The highest attendance for any standalone women's rugby match is 58,498, set when England beat France at Twickenham in the 2023 Six Nations.

That is set to be bettered at the World Cup final where tickets for the 82,000-seat Twickenham stadium have sold out, and the tournament as a whole will become the event's most attended edition.

Before the tournament kicked off, World Rugby said 375,000 of the 470,000 tickets had been sold, three times the number from the last World Cup in New Zealand.

There were 10,054 at Salford Community Stadium wearing jerseys from numerous nations to watch Australia thrash Samoa and Scotland beat Wales, while 7,458 saw New Zealand beat Spain in York.

Superb Scotland stun woeful Wales

One of the most impressive performances came from Scotland, who cast aside off-field issues to secure a record six-try victory over Wales.

Scotland's preparations had been beset by player contract uncertainty, but on Saturday afternoon they completely outplayed their opposition, helped by a superb hat-trick from former ballerina Francesca McGhie.

The victory was sweet revenge for Scotland who were devastated by a last-minute Wales penalty in their World Cup opener three years ago.

It also puts them in a commanding position to claim a spot in the quarter-finals, while Wales must realistically beat Canada to keep their knockout hopes alive.

"The last three years I've had that moment on repeat of Keira Bevan slotting home that penalty in the last minute of the last World Cup," said Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm.

"This is the biggest differential we've ever had in Scotland and Wales history. To put in a result like that just shows the character in this team."

Ireland impress on World Cup return

Eight years on from their last World Cup game, Ireland returned with a bang by outclassing Japan.

Ireland had endured a shock qualifying elimination, a Six Nations Wooden Spoon and concerns over funding, facilities and playing conditions since they last featured on the World Cup stage.

Their performance in Northampton was made even more impressive given they were without Six Nations player of the tournament Aoife Wafer, and only one member of the squad - replacement hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald - had previously played at a World Cup.

"It was amazing, I'm so proud of each and every one of them," said injured Ireland back row Dorothy Wall.

"It's probably one of the best performances we've ever put in as a team."

Ireland, who cemented themselves as a team to watch, play Spain in their second Pool C game on Sunday before a potential pool decider against New Zealand, who they beat in a last-second 29-27 win in Vancouver last year.