The Women’s Six Nations is still searching for a giantkiller, with the ever-dominant England not needing a consistent performance to overcome one of their main challengers in Ireland. So if people in Edinburgh see glasses of water shaking, trees being shoved to the floor and massive footprints on the ground next week, do not be alarmed, it’s just the Red Roses coming to town. Still, Ireland showed they had narrowed the gap as they cut the Red Roses’ winning margin to 21 points from 44 in last year’s tournament.
The overwhelming presence of the world champions will be diminished in round two at Murrayfield, as Morwenna Talling and Natasha Hunt were dealt long-term injuries. The exact prognosis has not yet been confirmed but the England head coach, John Mitchell, said he expected them to be ruled out for the rest of the tournament. The loss of Hunt is a blow but that of Talling is more significant, with four locks now missing because of injury or pregnancy.
