England won their Women’s Six Nations opener easily enough in Parma, but the performance and discipline, particularly in the first half, were not up to their usual standards.
Sarah Beckett was sent off in the 11th minute after the bunker review, being used for the first time in the tournament, upgraded her yellow card and Helena Rowland was sent to the sin‑bin in the 68th minute.
Marlie Packer, the captain, said “soft errors” let the team down but she was “on top of the world” after winning her 100th cap for the Red Roses. When she first stepped on to a rugby pitch for England in 2008 Gordon Brown was prime minister, Four Minutes by Madonna and Justin Timberlake was in its fourth week at No 1, and Manchester United had just won their 10th Premier League title in 16 years after beating Wigan Athletic 2-0.
Packer played only 40 minutes in England’s 80-3 win against Sweden on her debut and did not play again for the team for more than three years. It was a disappointing first cap, but it has worked out well in the end for the captain.
Packer has gone on to win the Rugby World Cup in 2014, claim seven Six Nations grand slam titles and was named the England captain after Sarah Hunter’s retirement in 2023. The 34-year-old has now added to her impressive statistics as she became just the seventh Red Roses player to reach 100 caps.
“I am proud to call her my captain,” Ellie Kildunne, who was named player of the match, told the BBC. “She doesn’t just wear her heart on her sleeve but you can see it.
“Whether it be her hair being everywhere or the way she is smiling and laughing, the energy she gives is so infectious and it bleeds into everyone around her.”
Packer’s milestone and the first game in charge for the new head coach, John Mitchell, did not start as they would have planned with the early red card for Beckett.
The Gloucester-Hartpury player was initially sent to the sin‑bin for a dangerous tackle on Michela Sillari but it was upgraded to a red as it was judged to be a high degree of danger with no mitigation.
The majority of people tuning in to the match would have been expecting a demolition job from England but Italy held their own with strong and impressive defence. It took until the 31st minute for the first points to be scored through a Hannah Botterman try.
Abbie Ward was the next to score and it came on her return to the England squad after giving birth last year. Two missed conversions from the fly-half Zoe Harrison meant the score stood at 10-0 at the break.
England then found some form, running in six second-half tries. The first came from Packer off the back of a rolling maul.
Italy started to string together some promising attacks but they were not efficient and the visitors made them pay through the individual brilliance of Kildunne, who beat several defenders to go over for the bonus-point try. Packer was hooked just before the hour, coming off to a standing ovation.
Mackenzie Carson, Connie Powell, Rowland and Kildunne finished the scoring but the match did not end without blemish for the Red Roses. Rowland was handed a yellow card because of a dangerous clearout at the ruck – it was referred to the bunker but it remained a yellow. Italy also lost a player to the sin-bin with Emma Stevanin sent off for cynical play.
England, the defending champions, are top of the tournament table after round one, level on points with France after their win against Ireland but the Red Roses head the charts because of points difference. Scotland sit in third after their first win against Wales away from home in the competition for 20 years.
While England and France are the favourites to battle for the title, third place also comes with the prize of a spot at the Rugby World Cup in England next year. The Red Roses and France have already qualified and so the next best finisher in the Six Nations will qualify.
The rugby on display in the opening weekend shows the fight for the finishing places will be an enthralling one.
The top of the table is still England’s to lose with Packer’s 100% winning record as captain looking likely to remain intact. But France will be licking their lips at the prospect of hosting England in the final round if their discipline remains at its current level.
Packer told the BBC: “There were some soft errors that let us down. When we tried to let off the handbrake it didn’t go as we wanted it to. But it’s the first game of the tournament. We’ll fix things and come back stronger against Wales next week.”
