England felled Scotland in a devastating manner to set up a grand slam decider against France in the Women’s Six Nations as they bid for their seventh successive title. The 59-7 victory was the team’s 33rd consecutive win in the tournament.
England were heavy favourites heading into the match as Scotland have never beaten the Red Roses in the tournament, with their last win across all competitions against their rivals coming in 1999.
While Scotland’s wait for a win over their neighbours continues, they did well to slow down a rampant England who were 42-0 up at half-time with the Red Roses adding only three more tries in the second half. For this game, the head coach, John Mitchell, made nine changes and among them was the former captain Marlie Packer.
Before the Six Nations began, Packer was stripped of the captaincy because of the depth of options in her positions at openside flanker. Mitchell wanted the flexibility to start other players ahead of Packer and so gave the title to one of the first names on the teamsheet in Zoe Aldcroft. The change has seen Packer, who is now vice-captain, in and out of the team this tournament.
Packer started England’s game against Italy in round one but was dropped from of the match-day 23 for the Wales and Ireland fixtures. The Saracens player was once again named as a starter for Saturday’s game against Scotland and it could be said she had something to prove with players like Sadia Kabeya, Abi Burton and Maddie Feaunati the competition for her shirt.
Packer put in a solid performance and scored her 50th try for her country on her 110th appearance. But she may not have done enough to retain the shirt for the grand slam decider next weekend.
The Scotland game was also the first time Holly Aitchison had played at fly-half in the tournament with Helena Rowland and Zoe Harrison given the nod in the opening three games respectively. Aitchison proved her worth in the 10 shirt in Leicester with a hugely-improved kicking game as she successfully kicked seven of nine conversions. The wing Claudia MacDonald also had a brilliant game, crossing for two tries and proving a menace for the Scottish defence.
Rain lashed down as the game got underway with a huge scrum where the Red Roses decimated Scotland’s set-piece.
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Italy 21-34 France
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France produced a second-half fightback to beat Italy 34-21 and maintain their 100% record in the Women’s Six Nations, setting up a potential grand slam decider against England.
Joanna Grisez’s early try had given France a flying start in Parma, but after the France lock Madoussou Fall was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle, Italy recovered to lead 21-12 at half-time thanks to tries from Vittoria Vecchini, Aura Muzzo and Silvia Turani. Morgane Bourgeois also touched down for the visitors.
France rallied in the second half, going on to secure a bonus point after tries from the sisters Romane Ménager and Marine Ménager before the replacement Alexandra Chambon went over in the last minute. Les Bleues are now set for a potential winner-takes-all showdown away to England on 26 April. PA Media
The 15,530 strong crowd were loud and dominated by England supporters – during the national anthems the Scottish players’ voices could be heard from the stands. The Red Roses fans made their presence known during an early break from Abby Dow and then reached another decibel level when Kelsey Clifford crashed over for the opening try. The sun then came out and it brought a positive spell for Scotland but it was the hosts who were next to score.
Packer went over for a try which moved her one ahead of Rory Underwood who is the top try-scorer for England’s men’s team. Packer is the fourth top try-scorer for England’s men and women teams with only Emily Scarratt (54), Nicky Crawford (57) and Sue Day (61) above her.
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Aldcroft displayed some skill as she intercepted a Scotland pass to score England’s third try of the afternoon. The bonus-point came in the 27th minute as MacDonald scored and the second-row Abbie Ward and the hooker Lark Atkin-Davies added one each to see the half-time score 42-0.
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Scotland’s bench had 67 caps between them compared to 419 caps belonging to the England substitutes. But before any changes were made England stretched their lead further. MacDonald finished off a lovely team move – something that is becoming a signature of this squad – and Scotland grabbed a consolation try through Lisa Thomsen. The game’s pace slowed considerably in the latter stages but England had the last say with two brilliant tries from Dow.
If England lift the trophy once again next weekend they will equal their own record for the longest streak of tournament wins.
The last time England won seven Six Nations trophies in a row was from 2006 and 2012. France will be their hardest opposition of the tournament but this team is seemingly unstoppable.