Red Roses win with eight tries against a scoreless Scotland
England ran in eight tries in Edinburgh to win 46-0 against Scotland in round three of the Women’s Six Nations.
First-half tries from Amy Cokayne, Abby Dow, and Ellie Kildunne gave the visitors a 17-0 lead at the break. A further five tries followed in the second half from Sadia Kabeya, a brace from Jess Breach, a second for Kildunne, and Marlie Packer.
For the second time in the tournament, England were reduced to 14 players due to a red card, as try-scorer Cokayne was shown two yellows and sent off for the remainder of the match in the 55th minute.
With Scottish Rugby proudly announcing they had sold out the Hive for England’s visit and the game starting on a typically dreich Edinburgh afternoon the home team were hopeful of keeping up the form that saw them beat Wales in round one and stay within ten points of France a week later.
The relentless Red Roses juggernaut would not be denied though, and despite the home team continuing their trend of reducing the scoreline against the Red Roses year on year, it was still a relatively straightforward win for the team in white.
The weather itself seemed to be firmly in Scotland’s corner, the wet conditions leading to a number of fumbled balls for the Red Roses, including from captain Zoe Aldcroft after benefitting from a rampaging Hannah Botterman run that put her into space in sight of the try line. It was a perfect encapsulation of the opening five minutes of the game as England’s passing game was defeated time and again by Edinburgh’s soggy conditions.
The returning Cokayne showed once again why she’s world-class, shrugging off a Lana Skeldon tackle to open England’s account with barely any rust despite being out for nearly a year.
With 11 minutes on the clock, they added a second, eagle-eyed Kabeya stretching the Scotland defence and delaying her pass a split second to provide Dow space with barely two yards between her and the line. Dow did what Dow always does and England were up by ten points.
As the first quarter came to an end, Scotland threatened, winning a scrum penalty and benefitting from a knock-on that put them firmly in the Roses’ half, a second scrum would be lost, but another knock-on presented their best opportunity yet and a series of passes looked like leading to something until Botterman stepped in to intercept and kick the ball away.
A knock-on in the 25th minute denied Breach a try, but Scotland held firm and earned a penalty to kick the ball away. It would take England a few more minutes of plugging away before Maud Muir scored what England thought was their third try, though Cokayne found herself yellow carded on review due to a tackle in the build-up and the score was disallowed.
Meg Jones, finding space in the 33rd minute, let loose a dribbling grubber kick and Kildunne scooped it up, twisting to touch down between the posts to score the Red Roses’ elusive third try of the game, and her fifth of the tournament. Holly Aitchison slotted the conversion, conquering the swirling winds that had denied her previous kicks.
Half-time couldn’t come soon enough for the home team who had struggled to put together more than four phases without losing possession. As the teams left the field the sun broke through the clouds giving hope that the second half would bring better opportunities.
First blood of the second half would come to England though as their scrum drove Scotland’s forwards over their own line, allowing Kabeya to grab the ball and drop over the try line herself. Scotland, playing against the wind in the second half, continued to struggle to retain possession despite some glimmers of the game they were trying to stitch together.
A scrum in the 51st minute saw Scotland penalised and the Red Roses, loosening up with the knowledge they could always roll back and try again, played the ball through hands, releasing Breach to soar down the left wing.
Cokayne showed her skill again, ripping the ball at the ruck inside her own half and brought down just shy of the line by Emma Orr. However, TMO intervention showed that Cokayne had led with the shoulder in the tackle and a second yellow card saw her sent from the field. Scotland had 25 minutes to make their numbers advantage count.
With a scrum penalty in their favour Scotland, confusingly, chose to kick the ball away at a ruck, landing it comfortably in Breach’s hands. The Harlequins winger danced through navy blue shirts for her second. Kildunne would add her own second a scant few minutes later to put them seven tries clear with 15 minutes still to play.
A huge tackle from Lisa Thomson denied Kildunne a third and was greeted with a roar from the home crowd. Regular Red Roses captain Packer, forced to spend most of the game on the substitutes bench, made the most of her late addition to the field with a try in the 72nd minute.
As the clock ticked down Flower of Scotland rang out from the raised voices of 6000 fans in the stands. Scotland clung on to the possibility of keeping their deficit against England under 50 points for the first time since 2018. A penalty with seconds to go allowed them to regroup, take a breath, and kick the ball into the stands with the Red Roses forced to accept a 46-point victory.
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……
90 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.
90 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.
90 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
90 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.
90 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.
90 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.
90 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.
90 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.
90 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.
90 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!!
90 Go to comments