Rugby: New Zealand survive early scare to open home World Cup with a win

AUCKLAND - Hosts and reigning champions New Zealand came through a huge early scare to beat neighbours Australia 41-17 in their opening match at the women's Rugby World Cup in front of a record crowd at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.

Three quick tries had the Wallaroos dominating the Pool A clash at 17-0 up inside the first half an hour and it was only when the Australians were reduced to 13 women early in the second half that the home side were able to edge ahead.

Prolific winger Portia Woodman scored a hat-trick and her fellow Sevens standout Ruby Tui grabbed a late double as the five-time world champions scored seven unanswered tries to seal what was ultimately a comfortable win.

"It was definitely a game of two halves," said New Zealand captain Ruahei Demant. "Australia really put us under the pump there right from the start. I'm proud of how we closed off that first half and the way that we finished that game."

In other matches on Saturday, hot favourites England opened their campaign in imperious style by crushing Fiji 84-19 while France were also convincing winners.

England extended their unbeaten run to 26 matches and scored their most points in a World Cup game, but only after surviving early fireworks from the Fijians and taking a tight 24-14 advantage into half-time.

The ninth edition of the tournament opened with two entertaining affairs, with fellow European heavyweights France earlier scoring six tries to dispatch South Africa 40-5.

Six Nations champions England left little doubt they will be the team to beat at the 12-nation tournament, unleashing a mix of speed and power in a match that brought together the highest- and lowest-ranked teams.

Claudia MacDonald scored four tries while fellow winger Lydia Thompson bagged a double in what was a record World Cup points haul for the English, surpassing their 82-0 demolition of Kazakhstan in 2010.

But Thompson admitted it had been a sluggish first half by England's high standards, before they let loose after the break.

"We've got a lot to reflect on, Fiji really came at us and gave us a really good match," she said, after her side racked up 14 tries.

"We went back to basics, to what England are known for, which is set piece and earning the right to go wide.

"I think we're really pleased but it's good to shake off some of those nerves."

France, meanwhile, started and finished strongly in a victory based around the class of their halves pairing.

Scrum-half Laure Sansus - named player of the tournament in this year's Six Nations - crossed twice while fly-half Caroline Drouinas scored a try and set up two others with exquisite short kicks.

France captain Celine Ferer said her side struggled at times with the size of their opponents and may have been daunted by the occasion.

"We're in a mythical stadium, maybe a little bit of pressure to be in a magnificent stadium like this and it's the first match," she said. "We are very happy. We put on 40 points and we wanted to make a big start today." REUTERS, AFP