Like being in a washing machine - Englands tough night in Vegas

Jessica Sergis scored a hat-trick of second-half tries - as Australia scored 17 in total

Amy Hardcastle compared the experience to being in a washing machine. Jodie Cunningham said it was evidence of the work English womens rugby league still has to do.

Englands experience in Las Vegas could hardly have been more chastening. A 90-4 defeat by Australia was the biggest the Lionesses - either as England or Great Britain - have ever suffered.

Both captain Cunningham and centre Hardcastle, interviewed on the pitch moments after a shattering result, were quick to pinpoint the reasons for it: they couldnt get enough of the ball, and so ended up spending much of the 70 minutes trying to defend against the best team in the world.

How to use that as a learning experience to avoid a repeat is a tougher question - and one that goes to the heart of the structure of womens rugby league in England.

The effort from Stuart Barrows team never wavered, even as hopes of running their opponents close were shredded. The fact they scored the final try of the match, having conceded 17 before that, spoke volumes of their capacity to keep going.

That, in itself, required huge reserves of character.

"I think we know what we need to do when we go back home," Hardcastle said. "You cant take anything away from the Jillaroos.

"Theyre absolute athletes and what they get to do in Australia, and how professional they are, and the backing that they get is incredible. And to face them at a top level, its a privilege to be here.

"Weve lost, but to be able to be here and give it a go and know what its like in that battle, in that washing machine, its been worth that 70 minutes."

The size of the defeat clearly hurt.

"There are always positives to take," Cunningham said. "Right now, its tough to focus on them, but I think the heart was there, the effort was there, we didnt give up.

"I think Georgia Roche getting a try for us right at the end shows that we didnt give up. The effort was there. It was just that they were too good for us.

"But Im proud of the girls. Im proud of how they kept going and sometimes thats what youve got to take at international rugby."

Jodie Cunningham acknowledged England did not have enough of the ball against Australia

In an interview with Sky Sports before the match, Cunningham had highlighted the gulf in investment between the womens domestic game in Australia and England.

She had pointed out how the players in the NRL Womens Premiership (NRLW) were either full-time or semi-professional, while those in Englands Womens Super League play for expenses or nothing at all.

That gulf was on show at the Allegiant Stadium, as a ruthless Australia side kept on punishing their opponents.

And it provided a significant reality check as England start building towards next years World Cup.

"It shows where womens rugby leagues at," Cunningham said. "The growth thats happened over recent years, the investment thats gone into the NRLW is there to see, with the athletes they have and what you can see on show today.

"Weve got a lot of work to do. But weve got a great squad, weve got a great group of staff and were willing to put that hard work in to get better."

In a recent interview with BBC Sport, former Great Britain head coach Jackie Sheldon highlighted the investment Australia have put into their womens game over the past two decades as a key factor in their international dominance - they have won the past three World Cups, and lost just once since 2016.

She suggested England have to find a way to compete physically with Australia and New Zealand in order to be able to challenge them.

Given the disparity in investment between the domestic game in England and Australia, that may not be a quick process. It may be helped, though, by the experience gained by English players who have moved to the NRLW: Roche plays her club rugby for Newcastle Knights, and Hollie-Mae Dodd for Canberra Raiders, while Paige Travis will start the coming season with Parramatta Eels, having switched from St Helens.

Perhaps, in time, the painful memories of Vegas will make England better too. As Hardcastle put it: "The results hard, but theres a lot we can look at individually, and think: what do we need to do to be better?"