In front of a record crowd for a home match of 15,836, England extended their record unbeaten run to 22 with an emphatic victory against Ireland. Even before kick-off the end result was assured. The only challenge England faced was entertaining their fans with a show‑stopping performance. In truth, they were only 50% successful.
The first half was a difficult watch. One hopes that anyone not yet converted to the women’s game did not turn the TV off at the break. England conceded nine penalties across a disjointed 40 minutes and would have been punished had they played against a better resourced team.
