The relentless Red Roses winning machine just keeps on rolling. Twenty-one consecutive wins became 22, this dominant England side beginning to again threaten their own record tally with no end to the streak in sight. A record Cardiff crowd piled into the Principality Stadium in hope rather than expectation; even the most ardent of Welsh fans would have gone away relatively content that Sean Lynn’s side at times seemed in the same class as their vaunted visitors.
John Mitchell, the England head coach, has described his squad as two sides operating as one in this tournament as he shakes up selection in a World Cup year. After a few more unfamiliar combinations produced a performance of two halves – 40 minutes of good rugby followed by a rather more challenging second period – against Italy, a close to fully-loaded team showed their ruthless streak in dispatching Wales. Two weeks earlier, England’s men had set the standards here with a 10-try thrashing of their hosts. Never to be outdone, the women raised the bar with an 11-try win as Ellie Kildunne marked her 50th cap with a hat-trick.
