The 90-24 victory came after what coach Tracey Neville admitted had been an "emotional" evening after Layla Guscoth was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a ruptured Achilles sustained in yesterday’s win over Scotland.

The Roses now progress to the next phase of the competition with a 100 per cent record.

So do New Zealand, who were equally as dominant in Group B as they beat Singapore 89-21 today in what was the two sides' first World Cup match since 1975.

Guscoth received a huge welcome when she took her place alongside her team-mates on the bench. 

Victory for England means they advance to Group G of preliminaries stage two with six points, while Samoa move into Group E to join Singapore as they search for their first win.

"The crowd were awesome," England’s Jo Harten said.

"I don’t think I’ve played in front of a home crowd like that before. 

"Every goal, every pass – you could feel them playing it with us. 

"They’re really getting behind us not just in the Arena but around the country."

Uganda won the battle with Scotland to finish second in Group D, beating the Thistles 52-43 in what is the tightest winning margin of the competition so far.

Scotland’s Claire Maxwell was playing in her 100th international.

"It was great to play in such a fantastic atmosphere and such a big World Cup," she said. 

"I’m disappointed we didn’t get the win but we’ll push on for the next game – we will refresh and go again.  

"It’s such a young squad and we can learn so much, so we’re really looking forward to the next stage."

In the other match today in the first session, Malawi beat Barbados 65-41 in Group B. 

In the evening session, Australia fell just one goal short of the tournament’s first century as they dismantled Sri Lanka 99-24 in Group A.

That was followed by two astonishing matches as Northern Ireland led by as many as four goals at one stage against Zimbabwe, but a crucial turnover in possession with the scores at 49-49 gave their opponents the chance to edge ahead with just 80 seconds left.

It was a chance Zimbabwe gladly took, eventually wrapping up a 51-49 victory in the Group A encounter.

There was a similarly tense finish in the clash between South Africa and Jamaica, where the Proteas shocked the world’s number two-ranked side 55-52 in Group C.

Trinidad and Tobago won the day’s final game in the same group, defeating Fiji 67-56.