Tournament hosts England began their bid for World Cup glory with a 27-0 win over a spirited but limited Ireland side at the Surrey Sports Club in Guildford on Friday.
England were on the front foot from the off and they pierced an impressively organised and resolute Irish defence on nine minutes when Fiona Pocock blazed over in the left corner. Ireland responded admirably to the concession of that early score and had the better of the remainder of the half, both in terms of possession and territory. However, they repeatedly squandered decent opportunities to trouble the scoreboard, most unforgivably when Niamh Briggs missed a kickable penalty on the half hour.
England punished Ireland's profligacy just before the break when a barnstorming run right up the middle of the field from Maggie Alphonsi eventually led to Katherine Merchant being left with a simple finish out wide.
That score settled the hosts and they were far more composed in the second period. Amy Turner effectively put the game beyond the Irish when she darted over from close range after cleverly taking a quick tap and player of the match Alphonsi secured the precious bonus point by crashing over the line with just over a minute of normal time remaining.
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