England scored four second half tries to run out 36-7 winners over USA on day one of the Women's Nations Cup in Canada, while France needed a last minute try to salvage a 17-17 draw with South Africa in the opening match at Appleby College on Monday.
The defending champions had led only 10-7 at half time but upped the momentum after the restart and scored tries from second row Sarah Beale, wing Fiona Pocock and centre Emily Scarratt (2).
USA had actually started the brighter, opening the scoring in the eighth minute when an interception led to a try for wing Amy Daniels, but England responded with scores from Jo McGilchrist and Pocock.
"Just as expected it was a physical challenge from the outset and the USA started brightly," admitted England head coach Gary Street. "We knew, however, that our conditioning would take over and eventually our superior skill set showed and we dominated the second half in territory and possession. It was a good start overall."
Kathy Flores, the Women's Eagles coach, admitted that while her side had put their opponents "under a lot of pressure that England is not used to" ultimately errors allowed the defending champions to emerge victorious.
"All throughout the game we struggled with the basic skills and there was a lot of dropped ball," explained Flores. "England is a professional side and once you allow these types of breakdowns, they will take advantage. Once they get out in front, it's difficult to play catch up against such an experienced squad."
Captain Ashley English, though, believes the Women's Eagles can take plenty from the match and ultimately build on the performance in their next encounter against South Africa on Sunday in Oakville, just outside Ontario.
"I'm proud of a lot of what we accomplished on the field today," said English. "We put forth one of the better games I've seen this team play, but we have to learn from our mistakes and take these lesson into our next match versus South Africa."
Late flourish for France
South Africa were unlucky not to open their Women's Nations Cup campaign with a victory, a last minute try from replacement Manon Andre snatching a draw for their fellow tournament debutants France.
The try came when South Africa were down to 14 players with replacement Phumeza Gadu having been sent to the sin bin for diving in at a ruck, something which France head coach Christian Galionnier admitted was a crucial development.
"We had a real lack of possession," explained Galionnier. "We're not especially fast and we dropped far too many balls. It was much easier for our forwards after the yellow. The sin binning then opened the field up for our backs and we were able to score."
South Africa had taken the lead through wing Marilize Jordaan's try, but the French forwards drove towards the line to create a score for Aurelie Bailon to level the match at 7-7.
Enjoying the edge in possession and dominating set pieces, South Africa again edged ahead with fly half Zandile Nojoko slicing through the French defence to touch down. Once more though France came back with Babrile Mutis' try cutting the deficit to two points.
Nojoko kicked a penalty from near the touchline to put South Africa within touching distance of the first victory, but fatigue began to set in and the sin binning gave France the impetus to create the one final score following a series of pick and goes.
"We'll take the draw, but naturally there'll be some disappointment after we boasted a fairly comfortable 14-7 lead," said South Africa coach Denver Wannies.
"But we must not forget that France are a team who regularly compete on the international stage, so this result does goes a long way in telling us where we are in terms of our performances against competitors.
"Obviously we'd like to win more matches and that will come with some regular matches. We'll take all the positives from this performance and try and work on some of the negatives that is still in our game. Hopefully, we'll get the winning result against Canada."
With the tournament a key element in all five nations' preparations for next year's Women's Rugby World Cup, the action will continue on Thursday at Appleby College when South Africa face hosts Canada and England meet France, a side they beat 52-7 en route to a fourth successive RBS Women's Six Nations title in March.
