Not a game to write home about: England v Ireland talking points

England’s Red Roses picked up where they left off from their World Cup win on their home patch of Twickenham by continuing their world record run of 35 games unbeaten, defeating an underwhelming Ireland side 33-12 in round one of the Women’s Six Nations.

It was not a performance England will be overly happy with, but a win nonetheless.

First half tries from Amy Cokayne and two from Sarah Bern, meant the reigning world champions went into the break 21-0 up. The second half saw England’s dominance continue with Ireland unable to slot into their game plan or cause England any real concern. It felt like the Red Roses barely had to slip out of gear two to score points with back three players Ellie Kildunne and Jess Breach (scoring her 54th England try on her 54th cap), using their pace to evade would-be tacklers to add to the points tally for the home side.

However, Ireland did manage to avoid a zero on the scoreboard with second half tries from replacement winger Anna McGann and captain Erin King to add some respectability to the score line.

Ireland have a day to forget
It was with great anticipation that many fans looked to this game and unfortunately from a rugby perspective it failed to sustain any element of spectacle or momentum for either team.

Ireland hardly fired a shot all match until replacement McGann squirmed her way over in the corner with 15 minutes to go. The visitors regularly handed possession over to England and gave their opponents opportunities through their own slopiness. The World Cup quarter-finalists seemed slow and laboured, allowing the Red Roses time to set up their defensive line.

If it wasn’t the women in green giving penalties away it was their handling errors, eight alone in the first half, which allowed good positions on the field to escape them.

Perhaps the most glaring unforced error came from fly-half Dannah O’Brien, over-egging a penalty kick to fall the wrong side of the corner flag on 37 minutes to deny Ireland the opportunity of getting on the scoreboard in the first half.

England widen their kicking options
Despite Holly Aitchison at fly-half and Zoe Harrison on the bench, Rowland kicked four from four of England’s first tries where they claimed the bonus point. Even kicks from the touchline did not daunt the centre, with her attempts sailing through the uprights.

Emma Sing also entered the fray when a raft of replacements were made on 60 minutes as we know what she can do off the tee from her performances in a cherry and white shirt for Gloucester. As games get more and more competitive, having a deep well of international standard kickers will become ever more important.

Injuries could concern England
Injury to second row Morwenna Talling in the second half will be the one position John Mitchell will have been wanting to avoid. With locks Zoe Stratford, Abbie Ward and Rosie Galligan all on maternity leave, the injury to Talling looked serious with the 23-year-old going off with tears in her eyes on a mobility vehicle.

Despise this handing a promising debut to Haineala Lutui, England will hope the knee injury to Talling isn’t as serious as it looked.

Ireland’s star players fail to shine
The Player of the Match accolade went to new England captain Meg Jones who barely put a foot wrong, but from an Ireland perspective no player stood out or took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Back row Brittany Hogan was arguably Ireland’s best player but the presence of extraordinary talent, number eight Aoife Wafer barely registered on the Twickenham turf, with the Harlequins player taken off after 60 minutes.

The centre pairing of Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton were also unable to click to any significant degree, despite Dalton having some impressive moments. Fly-half O’Brien had a unmemorable day with ball in hand or from the boot and full back Stacey Flood was no match for her opposite number Kildunne being well and truly rounded on the outside by the England full back to dot down and truly take the game from Ireland’s reach.

Ireland will be disappointed with their overall performance but in the second half the women in green did show more promise which will be something for the players and head coach Scott Bemand to hold on to.