England score eight tries past Wales at Ashton Gate
John Mitchell’s Red Roses racked up almost 50 points to beat Wales 46-10 in Bristol in the second round of the Women’s Six Nations.
First-half tries from four forwards from West Country clubs, Maud Muir and Zoe Aldcroft (both Gloucester-Hartpury), and Hannah Botterman and Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears), gave England the bonus point at the end of the first half.
While the first half was for the forwards, the backs took centre stage on the scoresheet early in the second with Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins) and Abby Dow (Trailfinders) opening the scoring.
Bristol Bears scrum-half Keira Bevan scored Wales’s only try of the match on familiar territory at Ashton Gate, but despite a late resurgence, they were unable to score a second.
England added to their scoreline with a try from player of the match Rosie Galligan and a second from Kildunne in front of a 19,705-strong crowd.
Gloucester-Hartpury’s Lleucu George put the first points on the board after Wales capitalised on their early possession to earn a 3 – 0 lead.
Soon after, Dow went flying down the wing, bursting through red shirts to move England within metres. Although the winger was brought down before she could cross the whitewash, Muir was able to secure the five points to put England ahead after seven minutes.
A brilliant lineout throw from Atkin-Davies set up England’s attack perfectly for their second score as Aldcroft crashed over the line on her 50th international appearance after a speedy passage of play from the Red Roses. Holly Aitchison, who plays her club rugby for Bristol Bears, was able to convert this time to give England a 12-3 lead at Ashton Gate.
Wales had an opportunity from the maul and remained camped out in England’s 22, but the Red Roses worked to regain possession and quickly turned the tables as they rapidly found themselves within five metres of the Welsh line, rather than their own, thanks to a break and subsequent kick from centre Meg Jones.
Botterman, who had initially stolen the ball from Wales during their attacking passage of play just minutes before, then provided England’s third next to the posts at her club’s home ground as she dived over from close range. It was her second in two weeks after she scored England’s first in Italy in round one, and was duly converted by Aitchison.
Luck was not going Wales’s way, and another attacking opportunity was squandered by a forward pass before England won the penalty at the scrum that followed to protect their 19-3 lead.
Wales put in another attacking shift to force England to defend their try line again, but Aitchison read the play in front of the posts perfectly to steal an interception and push the visitors back outside of the 22, denying them another opportunity within five metres of the line.
England scored their bonus-point try in the 41st minute as Atkin-Davies dotted down from the driving maul to end the half with a 24-3 lead.
Despite the scoreline, Wales had held the majority of the possession for much of the first half but were unable to convert their attack into points despite their best efforts.
England started the second half with intent and were set up well by a break from Aldcroft which allowed Kildunne to score her third try in two weeks as she gathered a low-flying ball to stretch over the line in the corner for her side’s fifth of the day.
Minutes later England scored again, this time in the opposite corner. Tatyana Heard made the metre-destroying break this time before Dow was released in the corner by Mo Hunt and Jess Breach to add the sixth try.
Bevan darted her way to score Wales’s first try, well-deserved after 53 minutes without at Ashton Gate, as she took a penalty quickly to exploit a gap under the posts after a strong carrying effort from the forward pack, in particular replacement prop Sisilia Tuipulotu.
The Welsh scrum-half dealt England the first five-point blow to their scoreline so far in the tournament as she scored the first try past them in the 133 minutes they had played until that moment.
Saracens’ Galligan powered her way out of the grasp of Welsh two players as she muscled over the line, driving low to score their seventh in the 58th minute, converted by Aitchison to take the scoreline to 41-10.
Just after the hour mark, Kildunne brilliantly finished her second try after Jones gave her the pass, judging her footing perfectly to get the ball down before being bundled into touch by Lisa Neumann, the England fullback scoring her second brace in as many weeks in the process.
What … A … Finish 🤩@elliekildunne 👏👏👏#GuinnessW6N #ENGWAL pic.twitter.com/vMOPDVFfLJ
— Guinness Women’s Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) March 30, 2024
Replacement hooker Connie Powell was instrumental in totting up the metres for England throughout the match, regularly speeding her way past the Welsh defence which resulted in her topping the stats for line breaks with three, the same as Dow. Powell was also fourth for metres made (66), with only backs Jones, Dow, and Kildunne making more.
Molly Reardon made her debut for Wales when she entered the field in the 72nd minute, just after Wales’s dogged defence had earned them a penalty on their own line to deny England their ninth try.
The new-found momentum continued for the visitors, who strung together some excellent phases of attack in the final ten minutes, but were held up by England who brilliantly held up a powering Welsh maul.
Alex Callender, who had been almost faultless for Wales, knocked on the ball in the 79th minute as she went in search of the try line, which saw England hold onto the ball until the final whistle to see out the game. Callender did however top the carrying stats with 16 in what was an otherwise impressive performance.
The win sees England retain their place at the top of the table after the first day of round two with ten points, closely followed by France in second after their win against Scotland earlier in the day added four points to take them up to nine.
Comments on RugbyPass
Poetic justice for trying to sell him to Australia as another kiwi saviour coach, not ! Deans was just as bad actually but McCaw and Carter covered up for him. That’s why they didn’t want him as All Black coach, even after Graeme Henry’s bumbling effort in 2007.
2 Go to commentsSACK HIM !
2 Go to commentsSafas are so triggered by Ireland. 3 consecutive losses, incl RWC. 8 losses out of last 12 Tests. Always excuses, of course, with Bok fans. Now Rassie with his “88%” nonsense, the Claytons Excuse is an embarrassment to Bok teams of the past when every test mattered. Their fickle mojo will be on edge for the Ireland tour. Have the referees been appointed yet ? They will need security. Have WR laid out strict guidelines for TMO’s and replays on the stadium screens ? Will the constant stoppages from Bok forwards for cramps and bootlaces be tolerated ? We’re not talking a dominant Springbok team here, they won the LOTTO Cup and they know it whether they admit it or not. The Disney doco has their fans positively fermenting internally, its going to be a nasty hangover if they get beaten on home soil. What will the excuses be then……
89 Go to commentsGreat 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.
89 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.
89 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
89 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.
89 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.
89 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.
89 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.
89 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.
89 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.
89 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!!
89 Go to comments