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England coaches react to Ireland: 'We crushed their lineout...their attack went nowhere'

BRISTOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 13: Red Roses head coach John Mitchell is seen coaching during the England Red Roses training session at SGS College on March 13, 2025 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Morgan Harlow - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

On Saturday in Round 3 of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, in front of a record Irish crowd, journalists in the stands at Musgrave Park were frantically Googling to find the last time England had gone into half-time of a Test match behind on the score board.

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So rare it is that the Red Roses are not firmly in control of a match heading into the half-time sheds, Ireland it is fair to say, had absolutely rattled them.

A maul try from Morwenna Talling on the 34th minute meant England went into the second half 5-7 ahead, and regardless of the high scoring second half from England, the team had been tested in a way no side has managed for a very long time.

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‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

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‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

England Head Coach John Mitchell commented on his side’s performance: “I thought the second half was outstanding. The girls are really good at resolving issues.

“They remained really calm and as much as Ireland tackled really well in the first half, we probably put ourselves into the washing machine, hence the reason it required a little bit of adjustment at half-time.”

And whatever was said in the changing rooms ahead of the second 40 was more than enough, with the coach highlighting England’s strong set piece, which ultimately provided the platform for the convincing 49-5 win.

“We crushed their lineout, their lineout went nowhere. Their attack went nowhere in the second half. I think they only got out of their half through kicks, so we were pretty ruthless. There were a couple of teams tries – (Meg) Jones and one of (Sarah) Bern’s – they were beautiful tries.”

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After the match England attack coach Lou Meadows, speaking to BBC Sport said: “We actually really enjoyed that test. We needed that and it’s good for the game to have a first half like that. It was about fixing it and we knew we had good set-piece.

“The girls were really calm and came out and finished the job. You have to keep it really simple, so we thought ‘let’s clear it up’, and we did.”

The Red Roses march on undefeated and will face Scotland at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium in Leicester for the penultimate round of the Championship this Saturday.

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Kitsune 3 days ago

Would like to see Mia Venner start instead of Jess Breach. Tenner seems to be a stronger and better finisher.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
Late Makazole Mapimpi try earns the Sharks win away to Edinburgh

Jake White described this as the strongest Sharks lineup ever. There is no doubt that it is at least an impressive roster. They did win, which is obviously an achievement against a good Edinburgh side. However …


For much of the first half Edinburgh seemed easily able to create 2 on 1 opportunities on both wings, with the defensive wingers biting in on the inside runner and cover defence being AWOL. Conversely the Sharks showed little ability to get behind the Edinburgh defensive line, with the sole exception of a nicely-exploited Am mismatch against a second row (which led to the Fassi try).


In general the Sharks, with their full complement of Bok firepower, do not look that dangerous in attack, and while tackling was good on the whole and goal line defence was impressive at times, they were exhibiting surprising breakdowns in open play defensive structures.


Also, the Sharks continue to be inaccurate, with material impact on the scoreboard. Missing two very kickable penalties is not the way to be the best. It looked to me like the Sharks contestable kicks were not well enough executed, and were too hard to recover.


Not sure what the running attack was trying to do, but my guess is that they were trying to pull off a Harlequins-style bash-and-offload game off of 12 (Esterhuizen). That’s not a terrible idea with the personnel available, but it would require creativity and a precision on second phase that was not in evidence.


Lastly, you have to have better discipline. It’s great that the team can cope with a 13 vs 14 period (of almost 10 minutes), but smart teams a avoid cards.


Having said that it was great to see the win. I thought that Edinburgh were cynical and niggly. Always hanging around on the wrong side of the breakdown, lots of intentional obstruction, illegal dummying at the base of the ruck, etc. They played a dirty game and the ref tolerated it. Always good to see that not succeed.


Overall the “best Sharks lineup ever” scraped the win, but under-performed their Bok-laden potential. Again.

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