Red Roses must relish unfamiliar pressure in quest for World Cup glory

England's final group tie put the hosts in the rare position of a close encounter - but they passed the test in the end

You can measure a good team by how many they've won, or you can measure them by how many they might have lost but didn't. The Red Roses are well ahead on the first count, they're on a 30-match winning streak now, and have suffered just the one, solitary, defeat in the last six years.

But it's less clear what their other tally is. Their one-point victory over France in the final match of this year's Six Nations was the only time they've had to confront the possibility of losing in the last few months, and even in that match they led from start to finish.

Which made the first half of this victory against Australia the most intriguing 40 minutes they've had in a long while.