If further evidence were needed of the benefits of scheduling the Women’s Six Nations to stand alone, England’s third consecutive bonus-point win in front of 14,689 fans surely provided it. Two each for Jess Breach and Lark Davies among England’s 10 tries helped to overpower Wales, who defended with spirit before the workload simply became too much.
As they build towards this year’s World Cup, Simon Middleton and his squad will have areas they want to improve: the lineout misfired occasionally and Wales inflicted some pain at scrum time. A serious injury to Abby Dow was also a significant downside, but this was a crushing success showcasing England’s enviably balanced game. Wales have 12 players on full-time contracts this season but the gulf in class became increasingly apparent.
“It was tough, it was physical, it was hugely competitive,” said Middleton. “We were off the pace [in the first half], but Wales forced us off the pace – I think we were a bit rattled, and I think there’s some good learnings in there for us.”
Abbie Ward’s damaging, tackle-breaking early run suggested it was going to be a long day for the Welsh defenders, as did a 10-metre shove from England’s pack with their first driving maul. Wales’s defending was up to standard, however, and they soon demonstrated their own threat. It took an excellent tackle by the England fly-half Zoe Harrison to bring down Kayleigh Powell, the Wales full-back, before a mammoth hit by the England prop Sarah Bern sent the Wales openside flanker, Alisha Butchers, into reverse.
Dow went down injured on 13 minutes and a lengthy stoppage resulted. As soon as she had been carried off on a stretcher to a warm ovation, England were over on the right, with Davies opening the scoring. Alex Matthews soon wasted an overlap but after the referee, Julianne Zussman, played a long advantage, an excellent touch-finding kick by Harrison set up the position for Ward to crash over. Harrison cracked the conversion confidently through the sticks.
More disciplined defending kept England out until Breach, making her first England start for nearly a year, displayed her killer instinct to skip over for the third try. At 19-0 down at the break and with Middleton’s team threatening to move through the gears, a third come-from-behind win for Wales looked unlikely.
Even more so four minutes after half-time when Davies again flopped over for the bonus-point score, England’s short-range power overwhelming the Welsh defenders who had got through a mountain of work in the first half.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhones or the Google Play store on Android phones by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the yellow button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Breach scored her second try and the Red Roses’ front row continued to bloom when Bern touched down England’s sixth to make it 36-0 after a move down the blindside. Wales’s Natalia John was sent to the sin-bin before a brilliant offload inside by Abbie Ward, galloping down the right, handed Matthews, the back-rower, a sight of the try-line and she finished with authority.
Wales were not done, however, and Kelsey Jones crashed over for a try after an impressive drive. Shaunagh Brown of Harlequins romped over for England and Emily Scarratt and Sarah Hunter added the ninth and 10th tries to complete a comprehensive display. England power on, three bonus points from three, with the final-round trip to France promising to be decisive.
“I think we’ll take a lot of learning from that. I was proud of the girls,” said the Wales head coach, Ioan Cunningham. “We were really pleased with how we got stuck into England physically. We were up for the battle but we didn’t quite come out of the blocks after the [injury] stoppage.”
Asked about the sizeable crowd, the England captain, Hunter, said: “When I was standing there singing the anthem, I was thinking: ‘We’ve changed the game’ – you couldn’t hear yourself at times. This, for me, was the turning point for times to come – it’s where the game should be.”
