Abby Dow scored four tries and Jess Breach added a hat-trick in England’s 12-try destruction of Italy in the Women’s Six Nations on Sunday. The bonus-point win takes the defending champions top of the table on point difference with three rounds to go.
Full-back Dow and right-wing Breach were not the only stars with player-of-the-match prop Sarah Bern impactful across the pitch and Claudia MacDonald adding two tries. MacDonald was forced off before she could seal a hat-trick, her suspected knee problem compounding England’s injury worries. If she is ruled out, MacDonald will become the 20th Red Roses player to be unavailable.
But the head coach, Simon Middleton, seemed optimistic about the left-wing’s injury post-match, saying: “We will send her for a scan. First impressions are, touch wood, it’s not too serious. We will wait and see.”
Bern almost scored England’s first try as she looked to be in on the wing but the Italian defence held strong. There was an overlap on the left and after a few phases it was whipped to Breach who scored.
Italy hit back quickly and used England’s strongest asset against them. They formed a maul which marched over with Sara Tounesi reaping the rewards.
The Red Roses kept coming and clocked more points, the latest try coming from a territorial kick by Dow. Italy’s Vittoria Vecchini’s throw was long and Bern stole it at the back of the lineout. England adapted their attack as phases faltered and Holly Aitchison popped a cross-field kick to Breach who slickly offloaded to Dow to score.
Penalties went back and forth between the teams, each coughing up possession through errors, but a hugely dominant scrum pushed Italy back five metres and gave England a great platform. Slick passes put MacDonald in space. She beat two defenders and ran a quarter of the pitch to crash over.
The visitors suffered a blow on 26 minutes as inside-centre Beatrice Rigoni went off for a head injury assessment (HIA), temporarily replaced by Beatrice Capomaggi, and shortly after England thought they had the bonus-point try. MacDonald threw a long pass to Breach to go over but referee Kat Roche overturned the decision after the TMO showed hooker Amy Cokayne blocking Capomaggi in the build-up.
However, it was not long until England had their fourth with Bern running a great line before offloading to MacDonald who dotted down.
Italy were boosted by the return of Rigoni after she passed her HIA, but she was frustrated after Breach went over for England’s fifth. Rigoni believed England had knocked on in the build-up but the referee judged it to have been ripped by Italy instead. It was the last action of note before half-time with the score 27-5.
Giada Franco made a massive break as the second 40 got under way but her shouts of frustration could be heard from the stands a few phases later as England won a breakdown penalty. The hosts went on the attack again and Aitchison offloaded to Tatyana Heard, who spliced through to score under the posts.
Concerns came for MacDonald as she hobbled off after making a tackle. A stretcher was brought on but she was able to leave the field herself and to a standing ovation. Despite losing one of their key players, England continued to be rampant. Quick passes and the pace of Dow saw her over. The full-back’s rapid feet were in action once again as she beat two defenders to crash over for her hat-trick from distance.
Breach secured her own hat-trick after a storming run for the line in England’s next score. The team’s near-perfect arsenal, the driving maul, came good for the hosts as they charged over with captain Marlie Packer scoring. The Red Roses just kept on firing and Dow was in for her fourth. She almost added another after a great fend but she was hauled down on the 22. Possession changed hands in the closing stages but England scored once more through Packer and that famous maul.
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“It’s good to see the backs on the ball, every time you look up from the breakdown and they are on the ball you know something is going to happen,” Packer said. “We had two new caps out there today [Delaney Burns and Emily Robinson]. You couldn’t ask anything more from them. It was a full squad performance.”
Next up for England is Wales, who are second with two bonus-point wins this tournament.
“We have got to make sure we keep an eye on what is to come,” Middleton added. “As well as staying in the moment and making sure there is a real perspective about how we play.”
