England Women head coach Stuart Barrow has challenged his side to turn the lessons from their defeat against Australia into an improved performance when they face Samoa in their final group game on Friday (30 October), with a semi-final place at stake.
While disappointed by the margin of defeat, Barrow took encouragement from England’s refusal to give up against an Australia side he regards as one of the most dominant in world sport.
“Of course we were really disappointed and the outcome was greater than we expected or wanted,” said Barrow.
“But I thought the group still fought in the game all the way up until to the end of the final whistle. They were still turning up for each other, we just got blown away by a team who I think is one of the most dominant sports teams in the world right now across all sports.
“We went to Perth and there was four points available and we've got two of them. Now we're coming to Wollongong and there's two points available and if we get those two points we're in the semi-final. That's what we're working on and focusing on.
“Training was really good, I was really impressed with the group and the way they've come together and trained excellently over the last two days.”
Beyond the immediate task, Barrow believes facing the world’s best has shown his young squad the standard they're striving to reach. He hopes that experience will shape their own development and help raise standards across the women’s game at home.
“We've got a really young group and the young group will be better for this experience because they know where the game can be and what the game can look like, now they've played the best in the world.
“Hopefully that gives them aspirations to either come out here and play that or to improve our standard back home generally across the women's game and Super League."
The result did not diminish the togetherness of the squad. For the head coach, the way his players supported one another and continued to compete offered something to build on for the rest of the tournament and beyond.
“There was a togetherness in the changing rooms, both at half time and at full time. There was a real strength in unity after the performance.
“We competed as best we could, which was really good. We never gave up and that's probably going to stand us in good stead going forward, whether it's in this tournament or in the future, that girls now feel that they could compete, if not match them at the same level, in that environment.
“I think it's a different challenge we're going to face on Friday night. But for the Australia game, I think there were a lot of lessons to learn and we were relatively pleased with the performance.
“There are bits we would have liked to have done better but what I will say is their attitude and the competitive nature of our girls was really good. I know I've got a group with spirit, I know I've got a group who want to be better and our challenge now is to try and improve every time we go on the field.”
England’s first meeting with Samoa on Friday night will bring a different test, with Barrow preparing his squad for a physical contest.
Having watched Samoa in action, England have spent the week working on how to counter that threat, leaving the Head Coach confident his players understand what awaits them.
“It's going to be a physical game and we've made that very aware to the girls, not that they need the coaching staff to tell them that," added Barrow.
“They've watched the games themselves so we know we're in for a physical battle and we're not shy of that, we've talked about it all week.
“We've looked at ways to combat that, we're comfortable with what we're facing but we know that challenge is going to be a big challenge on Friday night."
The move from Perth to Wollongong has also brought a change of atmosphere. After playing their opening two games in Western Australia, England have arrived in surroundings where Barrow says Rugby League has a much more visible presence.
“It does feel different because it feels like we're in Rugby League territory. In Perth, they're developing and the Perth Bears will come on and hopefully in a few years' time, Perth will be a Rugby League city as well.
“But at the time, you couldn't find an NRL shirt in any of the shops, people didn't know why we were there walking the streets in our kit.
“Whereas we've arrived in Sydney and Wollongong now and it's Rugby League mad and the girls can feel that as they walk through the town.
"People are stopping them and chatting to them so they're getting that little bit of respect that they deserve."
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