Julia Robinson Broke Her Wrist as the Jillaroos Beat England 78-0 in Perth
Australia scored 15 tries to none against England at HBF Park in Perth on Saturday and led 36-0 at half-time. Julia Robinson scored one of them and then broke her wrist in a tackle, the ABC and the BBC reported.
England lost 90-4 to the same opponents in Las Vegas in March 2025. On this evidence the gap has not closed.
How Robinson was hurt
Robinson had been moved into the centres from the wing. She scored Australia’s fourth try and went off soon after, when team-mate Shaylee Bent’s shoulder caught her in a tackle, the Guardian reported. She walked off holding her arm.
Her injury brought on a debutant, Sariah Paki, a Roosters NRLW premiership winner and a two-time Olympian in rugby sevens.
The player who could have been England’s
Jocelyn Kelleher scored two tries and kicked nine goals for 26 points. The BBC’s Matt Newsum made her his player of the match, as she was against Samoa a week earlier. The New South Wales five-eighth qualified for England through her mother, the BBC noted, and made her Australia debut in that Samoa game.
Tamika Upton did the damage from fullback. She had run more than 100 metres before the 20-minute mark, the Guardian reported, and her break set up Kelleher’s first try.
| Australia scorer | Tries | Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jocelyn Kelleher | 2 | 9 | 26 |
| Jaime Chapman | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Abbi Church | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Isabelle Kelly | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Julia Robinson, Tarryn Aiken, Olivia Kernick, Quincy Dodd, Makenzie Weale, Tiana Penitani-Gray, Shaylee Bent | 1 each | 0 | 28 |
| Australia | 15 | 9 | 78 |
England’s night
England were offside at the kick-off and conceded a penalty after one second. Their debutant half-back, Jenna Foubister, then put a kick-off out on the full. Anna Davies thought she had scored in the corner, but the video referee found her knee on the touchline. It was as close as England came.
Second-rower Eva Hunter went off with an ankle injury, and Jasmin Strange had already been ruled out with a serious knee injury suffered in training on Tuesday, the BBC reported. Fran Goldthorp, the BBC’s pick as England’s best player, played on after a blow to her wrist.
What comes next
England play Samoa at WIN Stadium in Wollongong at 6.45am UK time on Friday 30 October, in what the BBC called a decider for their semi-final hopes. England beat Wales 70-6 in their opening game, and the Kiwi Ferns needed a late try to beat Fiji in the other pool. Every remaining kick-off is on our World Cup UK times page.
