England made it three wins out of three to top their group at the Vitality Netball World Cup after a comprehensive 90-24 victory against Samoa.

In topping Group D the Roses have progressed through to the second stage of the tournament where they will meet Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and South Africa.

After opening their World Cup account with a hotly-contested 64-32 win versus Uganda, Tracey Neville’s side backed up that performance to record an impressive 70-34 victory over Scotland.

Ranked eleven places above their final group opponents, Samoa, England were hotly tipped to win and didn’t disappoint as the free-scoring shooters equalled ensured the Roses equalled the highest score of the tournament with 90 points on the board.

Fresh from winning her 100th England cap in tournament opener against Uganda, Jo Harten showed why she has been a mainstay in the England squad for so long with an almost perfect performance netting 40 out of 41 shots.

“We just had some fun out there today, letting the ball go, off the pass, off the shot and it was a good win and a good performance,” Harten told England Netball.

“We had to respect Samoa. We put out a really strong team and we had to get off to a good start but once we had the jitters and the nerves out the way we were just having fun out there.

“The crowd were awesome. I don’t think I’ve played in front of a home crowd like that before. Every goal, every pass you could feel them playing it with us. They’re really getting behind us not just in the arena but around the country.”

England will have to play their remaining World Cup fixtures with a reduced squad after it was confirmed that defender Layla Guscoth suffered a ruptured Achilles in England’s win over Scotland and will subsequently miss the rest of the tournament.

England are back out on court this afternoon where they take on Jamaica, ranked second in the world, before back-to-back fixtures against Trinidad & Tobago and South Africa later in the week to decide the top two placed teams to progress through to the semi-finals.


UP NEXT FOR ENGLAND...

15.07.19          Jamaica v England                              15:00

17.07.19          Trinidad & Tobago v England             15:00

18.07.19          South Africa v England                       20:00