England women beat Papua New Guinea in Rugby League World Cup

They did not have things their own way in a bruising encounter with Papua New Guinea but eventually came through to win 42-4 at Headingley.

It means they progress as group winners to a last-four meeting with either Australia or New Zealand in York on Monday.

"It was tough and PNG threw a lot at us, but we dug in really hard across the field and we finished well when we got the opportunities," said Cunningham, who was joined in the England team by skipper and fellow former Cardinal Newman High student Emily Rudge and Penketh’s Tara Jones.

“"We never panicked at any moment because we knew we would have the class to come through."

An early try from Martha Molowia promised to give Craig Richards' side the test they craved but they stormed back with eight tries, including a hat-trick for winger Leah Burke and a brace for Amy Hardcastle.

It was just the test required by Richards as he builds his squad towards a likely semi-final clash with New Zealand, who conclude Group B on tonight against red-hot favourites Australia.

Emily Rudge leads the post-match huddle (Image: SWPix.com)

"We needed a few questions to be answered and while you never want to be scored against as a coach, we found out the answer about what we do when we go behind," said Richards.

"I don't think we could have gone into the semis against either Australia or New Zealand without something tough, a physical battle and some adversity, and that's we got tonight.

"Tonight was about grit. We knew it wouldn't be fancy at times and it wasn't, and that's what pleased me the most - the girls sticking together, staying connected and winning the game in a different way to how we won the first two."