Bristol, you beaut, and three other England Six Nations talking points
It’s a surprise to no one that England are two from two in their latest Guinness Six Nations campaign. Not since a round four trip to Grenoble in March 2018 have the serial winners been beaten in the tournament – and even on that occasion there was just a point in it as France only edged it 18-17.
Saturday’s defeat of Wales means they have now won 26 championship games on the bounce since then, an incredibly consistent run where the target is to get to 29 Ws by the end of this April and collect their sixth successive championship title.
Given all this repeated success it will sound odd that they have plenty of work to do yet regarding perfecting the latest iteration of their game. Here are the RugbyPass talking points about what unfolded at Ashton Gate.
Bumper Bristol attendance
Before we get stuck into the mechanics of the England display, the first topic that demands acknowledgment is the Ashton Gate attendance of 19,705. Sports teams who predictably win their matches aren’t supposed to be increasingly attractive.
Instead, it usually becomes more difficult to keep the fans coming along as there is no sense of jeopardy about what occurs on the field of play.
There is a growing allure, though, about these Red Roses and there is every chance that the sport of women’s rugby will be in full bloom when England host the 2025 Rugby World Cup in 17 months.
Saturday’s crowd was a record for a non-Twickenham England home game and Bristol provided the perfect backdrop. The city centre had a lovely lunchtime atmosphere with rugby jerseys spotted everywhere and that family-friendly ambiance continued out in BS3.
Ashton Gate is one of eight venues on the RWC roster and if the popularity of this weekend’s round two championship match is an indication of what is to come, women’s rugby is set for a record-breaking treat next year when the 16-team finals gets started. We can’t wait.
Nit-picking the W
Now onto the nit-picking. A cursory glance at the Six Nations table would suggest that everything is hunky dory with England. Two wins, 10 points, first place – what’s not to like? The thing is they are trending downwards when their head-to-head results so far this year are compared to 2023.
A dozen tries were put on Italy in a 68-5 rout last year at Northampton while Wales leaked nine tries in a 59-3 hammering in Cardiff. That’s 127 points scored, including 21 tries, and only eight points conceded.
This time around with the games respectively taking place in Parma and Bristol, England’s strike rate has been reduced to 94 points, 33 fewer, their 16-try tally is five less than in 2023 while they have also conceded 10 points, two more than in the corresponding fixtures a year ago.
There has been plenty of talk about the desire for expansion in their attack, to use the edges a lot more and not be so heavily dependent on their rolling maul as they were at the World Cup in New Zealand where they agonizingly came up short in the final in November 2022.
Just one maul try was scored on Saturday, Lark Atkin-Davies driving over in first-half additional time for the four-try bonus point score. It was a finely executed move that no one can quibble with, but the added emphasis on moving the ball is causing them sloppy spillage.
? Watch the highlights from today's match between England and Wales here ?#GuinnessW6N #ENGWAL pic.twitter.com/LyENnW3RYU
— Guinness Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) March 30, 2024
Yes, they managed to reduce the number of handling errors from 28 in Parma to 16 in Bristol, but that is still way too many for a team as excellent as England. For instance, there can be no excuse for how Tatyana Heard knocked on a breadbasket pass in her 22 with no marker hunting her down.
That gave Wales the scrum they turned into lead-taking penalty points, and discipline was another frustration as England lost out on the penalty count 15-9. That’s a naughty rate of concession that must be curbed heading to Scotland.
On the plus side, England pummeled Wales by 15-2 linebreaks and 13-1 offloads, and their ability to transition quickly from their 22 and stretch the Welsh defence on the counter was a key factor in crucially making the half-time scoreline 24-3. It threatened to be much closer, such was the amount of time the visitors had on the ball in the red zone.
Marlie and me
The Ashton Gate press box is very high in the clouds but what you lose in not being close up to the action, you gain in the panoramic perspective that the view affords of the action from afar.
There were times when you noticed Marlie Packer being slow to her feet and the play having moved quite a distance away, but she is such a shrewd operator that her canny knack of being in the right place at the right time when the next important breakdown happened was clear to see.
Also evident was her unerring ability to repeatedly make the right decision. We’ll highlight two class examples. Firstly, there was the slick way she spun backwards in the eighth-minute tackle near halfway.
That repositioning bought her an invaluable couple of seconds to twist and toss a sweet offload to wheels merchant Abby Dow in the lead-up to England’s first try before the second tackler pounced to take Packer to the ground.
Secondly, she was so defensively robust throughout. It was her streetwise intervention that caused the valuable turnover in her 22 that led to England going from being under the pump and potentially getting pegged to 12-10 to instead jumping 19-3 clear as that possession won ignited the move for the Hannah Botterman score.
You simply can’t buy experience in this game and the craft Packer exhibited in Saturday’s contest when it was there to be won was a delight to watch from on high. She was also all smiles when leading her team in from the pre-game bus and her warmth towards the fans was genuine. That is worth its PR weight in gold.
Skipper Marlie Packer leads in England at Ashton Gate ahead of their round two Six Nations meeting with Wales. #EnglandRugby #RedRoses #ENGvWAL #GuinnessW6N #rugby pic.twitter.com/6A0QVTpxuD
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2024
The ‘new’ Mitch
Kiwi John Mitchell is now two games into his first head coaching job since 2018 when he finished up his single season with the Bulls in South Africa to go and work as an assistant for Eddie Jones’ England.
Other assistant roles with Wasps and Japan followed after he and Jones went in different directions, and he was a surprise name when chosen to succeed Simon Middleton as the English women’s coach.
In a sport that is constantly evolving, six years away from running the show is a considerable chunk of time not to be calling the shots so how England develop on his watch with be monitored with forensic detail.
He has tended to be involved in too many intense coaching set-ups, dating back to his joyless spell more than 20 years ago as the All Blacks head coach. Making players nervous isn’t a good trait, so his relationship with Packer and co will be critical to success in his latest role.
Some of his post-game soundbites in Bristol encouragingly suggested he might be mellowing in his ways. The word fun got a mention, accompanied by a smile. So too did the word trust.
“The girls trust me and they trust themselves,” he suggested, “which is the biggest connection you can create when you are trying to I guess extend your game or asking the girls to go to places where they haven’t been before and back themselves.”
Only time will tell how this ‘biggest connection’ eventually turns out. For now, the early indications are positive.
"For us, it's about letting the handbrake off…"
– The Marlie Packer hot take on her England team's 46-10 Six Nations win against Wales, from Liam Heagney ?? in Bristol. #ENGvWAL #RedRoses #EnglandRugby #GuinnessW6N #rugby pic.twitter.com/vdX7ybCs0N
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2024
Comments on RugbyPass
Great role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
54 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
54 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
54 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
54 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
54 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
54 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
54 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
54 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
54 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
54 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
54 Go to comments