England Women stars hit back at ‘false accusations’ and ‘disgusting’ comments after Las Vegas defeat

Members of the England Women’s squad have hit back at critics on social media after being inundated with ‘disrespectful’ comments following their 90-4 defeat to Australia in Las Vegas.

The Jillaroos ran riot in Sin City, underlining the giant gap between women’s rugby league in Australia and England.

This was the first meeting between the two nations in eight years and the disparity on the scoreboard drew a lot of attention on social media.

In a statement, three members of the England team hit back at the critics. Georgie Dagger, Tamzin Renouf and Eboni Partington were all collaborators on an Instagram post which said:

“Let’s address the elephant in the room. We weren’t ready.

“We worked so hard, made countless sacrifices, missed out on time with our kids, partners and families; we worked hard with our respective clubs putting in countless hours around working full time.

“Getting up early to train before work, training late after work, paying out of our own pockets to access additional recovery, supplements, diet plans, additional coaching etc. But it wasn’t enough.

“As a playing group we take accountability for the errors on the field, but who takes accountability for the growth of the women’s game in England?

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“We did the best with what we had and we are under no illusion that our best was far from good enough.

“The comments on social media are absolutely disgusting. Making false accusations and excuses as to why we lost, picking fault with players’ appearances, questioning their commitment and just being downright disrespectful.

“These words hurt, and funnily enough the vast majority are written by men- who have probably never had to experience the obstacles that we face every single day as women in sport.

“We wish that the outcome was different, but this is the reality of the gap between WSL and NRLW. The only way that this gap will ever close, is if major changes are made to pave the way for a future EnglandRL.

“In a world where you can be anything, please just be kind.”

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