The greatest: Jillaroos earn high praise after 78-0 win

By Justin Chadwick in Perth

The Jillaroos have been hailed as one of the greatest sides going around in world sport after their quest for a fourth consecutive Rugby League World Cup title continued to gain pace.

Australia followed up last week’s 40-0 win over Samoa with a 78-0 shutout trouncing of England in Perth on Saturday night.

England beat Wales 70-6 last week, and they entered Saturday’s match against the world No.1 side confident they could vastly improve on their 90-4 loss to Australia in Las Vegas last year.

But what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas, with Australia running in 15 tries to nil to completely embarrass England again.

The Jillaroos are so dominant, they are rated a $1.04 chance in some betting markets to retain the World Cup.

England coach Stuart Barrow didn’t mince his words when talking about their might.

“Listen, we got blown away by an excellent team – a team I think that’s probably one of the best in the world across all sports at the moment,” Barrow said.

“They’re dominant.”

If you feel sorry for world No.3 England, then spare a thought for world No.13 Wales, who have lost by a combined 146-6 across their first two World Cup games and are next in line to confront Australia.

But the Jillaroos’ win over England did come at a big cost, with star centre Julia Robinson in doubt for the rest of the tournament after being taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist.

With a semi-final berth already locked away, Jillaroos coach Jess Skinner will consider rotating her squad for the dead rubber match against Wales in Sydney next Sunday.

“We’ve got a lot of young girls coming through, and we may look to play them and rest some of our other girls,” Skinner said.

Jillaroos captain Isabelle Kelly praised the group’s hunger, saying their commitment to always setting the highest of standards helped keep out complacency.

“When you pull on the Jillaroos jersey, it’s about chasing excellence and being the best you can be,” Kelly said.

“I learnt that when I came through as a young 18, 19-year-old, and that’s something that’s stood with me ever since. We always want to be better.”

Even though England have been hammered in their two most recent matches against Australia, Barrow is confident they are on the right path to closing the gap on their great rivals.

“We’re very much here to compete. But with a group like this, we’re hopefully bleeding them in for the 2030 World Cup,” Barrow said.

“There’s a lot of 19, 20, 21-year-olds within our group who are going to gain a lot of experience from this, and we’ve got some younger players behind them as well who were unfortunate not to make the trip.”

England now face a virtual elimination final against Samoa in Wollongong next Friday, with the winner to secure a semi-final berth and the losers sent packing.