Red Roses cruise to Six Nations victory

By Mark Stevens
15/4/23

England ran in nine tries as they hammered Wales 59-3 in Cardiff on Saturday to keep their Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam hopes on track.

The four-time defending champions’ strength in depth was on full display on a day on which each of the Red Roses’ nine tries come through different scorers.

Lucy Packer, Tatyana Heard, Abigail Dow, Holly Aitchison, Jess Breach, Ellie Kildunne, Maud Muir, Hannah Botterman and Sarah Beckett all touched down for the visitors, with Emma Sing and Lagi Tuima adding seven conversions between them.

England were heavy favourites to make it three wins from three in this season’s Six Nations but Wales, who included Exeter Chiefs duo Abbie Fleming and Robyn Wilkins in their match-day squad, opened the scoring after an electric start when Keira Bevan slotted over a penalty.

Those proved to be Wales’ only points of the game as England hit back in emphatic fashion.

England head coach Simon Middleton said his side were focusing on fine details to stay ahead of increasingly professional Six Nations rivals. The Red Roseshave dominated the tournament since becoming professional in 2019 and are chasing a fifth successive title.

"We're really conscious that the gap is closing," Middleton said. "Our challenge is to keep it as wide as we can. It will get tougher and tougher. We've put a massive amount of attention to detail on everything that encompasses our game from nutrition, to how we play, to psychology support."

Wales tested England for 30 minutes before the Red Roses pulled away and made their dominance plain when they scored a late try despite being down to 13 players.

"The difference between a couple of years [of professionalism] on our backs showed today," he said. "Physically we're in great shape."

Meanwhile, Italy beat Ireland 24-7 in Parma to secure their first win of this year's Women's Six Nations tournament.

Sofia Stefan crossed for a try in the first half, with Alyssa d'Inca touching down twice in the second and centre Michela Sillari kicking nine points.

Ireland - who included Exeter Chiefs duo Nichola Fryday and Clara Nielson in their squad - replied with a penalty try but remain without a victory and without a point from their opening three games.

The Irish have now lost their first three matches of a Women's Six Nations for the first time since 2007.