England’s Jodie Cunningham picks up cracking black eye in bruising World Cup win over Papua New Guinea

St Helens skipper Jodie Cunningham emerged from the England dressing room after their 42-4 victory over tough-as-teak Papua New Guinea at Headingley on Wednesday night sporting ‘the spoils of war.’

The England international ended the hosts final group game of the Rugby League World Cup displaying a black and blue left eye but picked up the player of the match accolade as compensation, completing 39 tackles and doing much of the team’s donkey work.

She must, however, have been given a run for her money by St Helens team-mates Leah Burke who grabbed a hat-trick (24, 46 and 64 mins) and two-try Amy Hardcastle (28 and 77 mins).

A third St Helens player Vicky Whitfield also crossed the whitewash - her first England try - and shows why coach Craig Richards picked a plethora of local players in his squad.

He said: "We knew the game would not be fancy at times - and it wasn’t - but what pleased me most was that the girls stayed connected and managed to win in a different way than in the two previous group fixtures."

Cunningham added:" It was tough out there and PNG threw a great deal at us but we dug in really hard across the field and when we got the opportunity we finished well. We never panicked as we knew we would have the class to see us through."