'One eye on the Jillaroos': England use Wales Test as Vegas tune-up

England coach Stuart Barrow employed tactics ultimately intended to outflank the Jillaroos in Vegas next year during Saturday’s 82-0 pasting of Wales at Headingley.

Winger Anna Davies posted five of her side’s 16 tries in a scoring spree that saw halfback Isabel Rowe star on debut, while second rower Paige Travis and fullback Amelia Brown also posted braces.

Australia managed an 84-0 win against similarly inexperienced Papua New Guinea a fortnight ago, making for an intriguing match-up at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on March 2.

The two nations will meet for the first time since the 2017 World Cup in the penultimate match of a quadruple header featuring a Super League clash between Wigan and Warrington and two NRL matches - Raiders v Warriors and Panthers v Sharks.

The historic Test will form part of the first women's Ashes series to be played next year, either in Australia or England.

“We know how good Australia are - we’re not going to deny that," said Barrow, who rated the win the best since he took over after the World Cup in 2022.

"But we've got a plan of the way we want to play when we play Australia - and there was evidence of it out there today. We'll probably go away and pick a wider squad and start training in December.

"Everyone will have a chance of fighting for a position on that plane. We'll look at the opposition, we'll look at what we need so that might have some influence in who gets on the plane."

Raiders second-rower Hollie-Mae Dodd played her first match for England since moving to Canberra for the 2023 NRLW season.

Knights five-eighth Georgia Roach and Cowboys fullback Fran Goldthorp are expected to join Dodd in the Vegas Test - the first time the Australian or English women's team have played in the United States.

The last IRL world rankings had Australia ranked first with 100 points out of a possible 100, well ahead of third placed England on 69.

The Kiwi Ferns, who take on the Jillaroos in Sunday's Pacific Cup final at CommBank Stadium, are ranked No.2.

Asked what England need to do to topple the Jillaroos, Barrow said: "What it would take is everyone performing our roles to the best of our ability and doing what our game plan is and can we do that under pressure against the world champions.

"That's an exciting challenge. We've obviously got an eye on the Jillaroos and an eye on the Ashes, but our ultimate aim is 2026. We'll learn from playing the Jillaroos, we'll learn from playing the Ashes."

It is proposed the women's Ashes be run in tandem with the men's version, 12 months from now.

"The RFL asked me last year, they said 'what do we need to do to improve the international scene?'" Barrow recounted.

"I said 'we need to play the world champions'. To be fair to them, they've backed and supported that wholeheartedly and now we get the opportunity to go and see where we're really at."