Opening day delight for England teams at 2026 Box Euros
Both England teams secured comprehensive victories as they started their 2026 European Box Lacrosse Championships journey in Prague, Czechia yesterday.First up in Malešice, England’s Women made history by taking to the field at the inaugural Euros and claiming a huge 26-goal shutout victory over Finland.After a slow and perhaps nervy start, Laura Wright eventually opened England’s account after seven and a half minutes, writing her name in the history books as England’s first scorer at a Euros, and from there they never looked back.Another four goals came before the end of the first quarter with Georgie Rutter (x2), Laura Beaman, and Ellie Racle all getting their names on the scoresheet.As England really got into their stride, an even bigger second quarter saw them add another eight to their tally as Torz Anderson (x3), Racle (x2), Beaman, Katie Greenwood, and Erin Tufnell got in on the fun to take an unassailable 13-0 lead going into the second half.Just as impressive as England’s attacking prowess was their defensive capabilities, keeping Finland to just 23 shots in the opening two quarters and goalie Lucy Mayers making 20 saves.With the victory all but wrapped up in the opening 30 minutes, England eased slightly in the third quarter but still bagged another six goals through Anderson, Iandra Lamplugh, Leah Catton, Amelia Foord, Racle, and Greenwood while reducing Finland to zero shots on goal.The final quarter saw England complete the huge win with another seven goals as Fran Parshall and Brynn Martin added new names to the scoresheet alongside another two for Anderson and single strikes for Beaman, Racle and Lamplugh.Later in the day in Radotín, England’s Men started their defence of the title they won in 2022 and claimed a big 22-5 win over the Netherlands.A blistering opening quarter that saw England pull nine goals ahead through Jack Bucknell, Michael Blaymires (x3), Zack Gignac (x2), Will Prescott, and Ollie Allsop gave the men in red the opportunity to try some things out in the rest of the game with tougher tests surely on the horizon.Testing out different plays and tactics didn’t dampen England’s ability to tear open the opposition, however, as they fired five more past the Dutch goalie before half-time thanks to Tom Roper, Allsop, Bucknell (x2), and Jude Krommenhoek, with the only blemish being Joost van Der Hoorst’s goal for the Netherlands in the 24th minute.With the gloriously hot Prague sun beating down on both teams, players began to tire in the second half but England continued to push for more goals and more goals is what they got, scoring four and conceding two in both the third and fourth quarters to seal victory on opening day.Both England teams know the tournament gets tougher from here on in with the Women taking on Germany, ranked sixth in the world, and the Men playing ninth highest ranked team in the world Finland later today (Saturday 27 June).Watch every minute of every England game live on YouTube HERE. England Women Scorers | Torz Anderson (6G, 3A), Ellie Racle (5G), Laura Beaman (3G), Katie Greenwood (2G, 1A), Iandra Lamplugh (2G, 1A), Georgie Rutter (2G, 1A), Amelia Foord (1G, 2A), Laura Wright (1G, 2A), Leah Catton (1G, 1A), Brynn Martin (1G, 1A), Fran Parshall (1G, 1A), Erin Tufnell (1G), Rosie Bathurst (3A), Karma Kabbani (1A).England Men Scorers | Jack Bucknell (6G), Michael Blaymires (4G, 2A), Zack Gignac (3G, 5A), Ollie Allsop (2G, 4A), Will Prescott (1G, 2A), Will Allsop (1G, 1A), Jude Krommenhoek (1G, 1A), Ryan Martin (1G, 1A), Tom Roper (1G, 1A), Nate Edwards (1G), Albert Lee-Whitehead (1G), Tom Bracegirdle (1A), Billy Rawlins (1A).Next UpEngland v Finland | 15:30 (UK) | MenEngland v Germany | 17:00 (UK) | Women
