Sarah Rendell’s match report from Edinburgh is here:
And that’s the lot from me. Thank you for reading – congratulations to England and commiserations to Scotland. Roll on Twickenham next week. Or indeed the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, where Italy will host Scotland. Ciao!
“I thought England were outstanding,” says the Scotland head coach, Bryan Easson. “Once you give them ball on the front foot they are going to put you under pressure.
“We didn’t really fire a shot … and we’re disappointed with that.
“It’s difficult for both teams … they got on the front foot, and it’s difficult to stop them.
“Today was poor. Today wasn’t us. We are going in the right direction. There are glimpses in there that we’ve got some good things in us.
“We’ll draw a line under that one … We’ll learn a lot from that.
“The lineout’s been frustrating … second half, when we threw to the front, we got some decent ball … but by then the game was gone.”
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“We want to be offensive in our defence,” adds Hunt.
Meanwhile Lou Meadows, the attack coach, insists that England are not worried about their discipline following the red card for Amy Cokayne.
“We’re getting there … there is more in there that we want to go after,” the England No 9 Natasha Hunt tells the BBC.
“Playing with a pack like that, that give you that go-forward, is anyone’s dream really.
“In the week it’s tough because we go at each other so hard, but it makes things easier when it comes to the games.”
Train harder than you play, so they say.
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Speaking of what Kildunne called the “big ones”, England face Ireland at Twickenham next Saturday and then France away on 27 April.
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Ellie Kildunne has a chat: “I think it was quite a sticky game. The weather didn’t help.
“We all got soaked during the anthems but we adapted to the conditions. There’s a lot to work on, but to put eight tries on a very good team, we’ve got to be proud of ourselves.
“It was a team performance. We [the backs] got space on the edge only because of the girls working in the middle.
“We speak about confidence, we speak about taking the handbrake off … each game we seem to discover a new strategy, and we’re building for the big ones at the end.”
The Scotland players console each other after a very difficult day.
England are three wins out of three and they stay top of the table with 15 points – and a points difference of +130. The have scored 24 tries in three matches in this championship.
Full time! Scotland 0-46 England
Another dominant win, and eight tries for England. The grand slam is very much on.
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79 min: The match is about to end in familiar fashion. Scotland pinned back on their 22 and desperately fighting to keep England out.
77 min: Ellie Kildunne, the England full-back, is named player of the match. She’s scored two tries today and six now in the tournament.
Hard to pick who’s had the best day for England but Kabeya would certainly be up there.
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Try! Scotland 0-46 England (Packer)
A very scruffy lineout ends with Packer diving over. The extras are added by Harrison. Gaps are certainly opening up in this Scottish defence but that is only to be expected considering the work they have had to get through.
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71 min: England continue to work through the phases, keeping the Scotland defence honest. As Brian Moore has said on co-commentary for the BBC, a possible criticism of England is that they haven’t been clinical enough with converting their chances.
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70 min: Scotland remain pinned back. England mess up a lineout and let them off the hook. Packer is warned over a potential neck roll.
67 min: Kildunne storms down the England right now in plenty of space in the Scots’ half. A fantastic tackle by Lisa Thomson stops her in her tracks and even drives the England player back.
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Try! 65 min: Scotland 0-39 England (Kildunne)
The Scots defence is worn down yet again and Kildunne is lurking in the left corner to touch down England’s seventh try. Conversion missed.
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63 min: The pressure stays firmly on the Scotland defence. Are they going to trouble the scorers? It seems unlikely at this stage.
62 min: Feaunati and Packer are also on for England now. Scotland’s Skeldon off, for Martin.
60 min: Powell, Clifford, Carson come on for England with Galligan, Muir and Botterman off.
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Try! 59 min: Scotland 0-34 England (Breach)
Number two for the wing. A tremendous finish too, beating several defenders with a jinking run. Jones tries the conversion from out wide but misses it.
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58 min: England freshen up their front row. Scotland nevertheless win a penalty at a defensive scrum, and the celebrations are wild. It’s been a tough day but they are a long way from giving up on this contest.
56 min: Clarke and Wright are on for Scotland. Bartlett and Belisle off.
55 min: Red card for England! (Cokayne)
That was a poor challenge and Cokayne can have no complaints. She jogs off for an early bath. (Of course, it wasn’t a try anyway so the score remains the same.)
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Oh hold on … looks like more foul play by Cokayne. A high hit that almost led to a try … it’ll be a second yellow card – so a red card.
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55 min: Cokayne rips the ball out of Scottish hands and hares into the 22 and nearly over the line. Desperate Scots defending keeps her out.
Brilliant strike move by England. Kabeya initially takes it to the line and feeds Aitchison, who in turn finds Dow, with tonnes of space opening up on the England left. A clinical looped pass by Dow is gratefully accepted by Breach, who neatly scoots over the line and touches down. Aitchison misses a difficult kick.
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Try! 52 min: Scotland 0-29 England (Breach)
Another cracking score.
51 min: The worst of the weather definitely seems to have passed. The sun is shining brightly.
50 min: More of the same from England with Scotland pinned back in their own half. Scotland try to run it from inside their own half, but England’s swarming defence is too much for them when they try to spin the ball wide. A knock on brings and England scrum.
England rumble an attacking scrum up to the line, right under the posts. Kabeya has an easy task to snaffle the ball and dive over from short range. Hunt had previously tried to dive in by the posts. But England kept pushing the Scotland pack back, over the try-line, and that meant no one was home to try and make a tackle for Scotland. A tap-in for Kabeya. Aitchison cracks over the conversion.
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Try! 44 min: Scotland 0-24 England (Kabeya)
That looked easy.
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42 min: Lisa Thomson is on for Scotland, with Meryl Smith coming off. Grant also failed her HIA from before half time so Francesa McGhie is on permanently.
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Second half kick-off!
Allez!
“I thought the girls were outstanding, managing the wind,” England forwards coach Louis Deacon tells the BBC of the first half. “We’ve got to be direct playing with the wind [second half].”
If you missed it, here’s Sarah Rendell’s preview:
And here’s some Champions Cup business from the men’s game:
Half time: Scotland 0-17 England
Dominant from England. Scotland have not really had a sniff.
39 min: Cokayne is back on following her yellow card and it’s 15 v 15 again.
38 min: Here’s that very well worked second try by England.
A beautiful team try finished by @abbydowberg extends the #RedRoses' lead in Edinburgh! 🌹#SCOvENG | #GuinnessW6N pic.twitter.com/i9pDcRd6cO
— Red Roses (@RedRosesRugby) April 13, 2024
That was clever. Aitchison kicked a grubber through in behind the Scotland line. Jones sprinted on to it and spotted Kildunne on the inside … instead of trying to gather the ball, she boots it right-footed towards the posts. There is a defender on hand but the lethal finishing of Kildunne does the rest: she pounces on the ball and rolls over the try-line. Aitchison, who created the try with an excellent grubber, adds the extras.
Try! Scotland 0-17 England (Kildunne)
Kildunne gets her fifth try of the championship! Aitchison converts.
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33 min: Scotland’s Coreen Grant is off for an HIA.
29 min: Yellow card for England! (Cokayne)
Correct decision. Cokayne picks up Gallagher, the Scotland No 8, with England pressing for the third try. It’s very fortunate that Rosie Galligan of England is on hand to hold Gallagher in the air after Cokayne lifts the Scotland player’s legs above the horizontal. Otherwise she might be falling on her head and neck. That is dangerous and it’s a deserved yellow card for Cokayne.
The score is back to 10-0 to England after the third try is ruled out.
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Hold up … this is going to be ruled out for foul play by Cokayne in the build up.
Disallowed try! 29 min: Scotland 0-15 England (Muir)
Power and precision, and another England try. But it’s ruled out for foul play by Cokayne.
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28 min: Orr is penalised at the tackle area with the Red Roses on the move down the right wing. England boot the penalty for the corner. This is another stern test for the Scotland defence.
26 min: There is still pressure on Scotland’s defence but Gallagher, the No 8, does superbly to snatch the ball off the back of a defensive scrum and carry the ball away from danger. Scotland then win a penalty. The score remains 10-0 to England and the visitors have been largely dominant. But Scotland are not out of this.
25 min: No, it’s a knock on by England’s Megan Jones. No try.
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25 min: Breach is over for England in the corner! The referee wants to check for a knock on by Jones … I think this is a try.
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24 min: England’s first try via the Red Roses’ Twitter:
Amy Cokayne is straight back into the action as @TigersWomens' hooker gives the #RedRoses an early lead.#SCOvENG | #GuinnessW6N | @amycokayne pic.twitter.com/UpfdvTILIz
— Red Roses (@RedRosesRugby) April 13, 2024
22 min: Botterman nabs an intercept from a sloppy Scotland offload in midfield. She bursts forward and hacks the ball ahead, but it skews off her boot, and out for a lineout to Scotland in their own half.
20 min: The slippery ball is a bit of an issue. England knock on to gift Scotland a scrum. England win it back on the floor, but Kabeya then knocks on again, this time in England’s half. Scrum for Scotland.
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19 min: The rain has ceased. The sun is out. The wind is still an issue but even that looks like it may have dropped a fair bit.
18 min: England win a scrum penalty and Megan Jones is soon sprinting into the danger zone again. She offloads to Kabeya who can’t gather the pass and it’s a scrum for Scotland near their own posts. And they win a scrum penalty, Muir penalised for collapsing.
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15 min: Scotland are gifted an attacking scrum by an England error but Mitchell’s side get the shove on, and the hosts cannot capitalise.
Such an impressive score by England. Scotland’s defence is stretched to breaking point when the Red Roses move the ball swiftly from left to right in the home 22. Kabeya bursts towards the line and it looks like the try might be on for the openside flanker, but she offloads clinically to Dow, who applies a smart finish diving into the corner. Excellent stuff.
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Try! 11 min: Scotland 0-10 England (Dow)
Sensational handling, sensational try in the corner for Dow.
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10 min: It’s all England. Aitchison tries a grubber kick into the 22 and Kildunne tries to gather. Scotland manage to hang on …
Try! 7 min: Scotland 0-5 England (Cokayne)
Third-phase ball off an attacking lineout for the visitors. The English ranks are massed a few metres from the Scottish try-line. There is a slip in the hosts’ defensive line and a yawning gap opens for Cokayne to bundle over with a short-range carry. England’s players bundle on Cokayne as they celebrate. Aitchison misses the conversion which is entirely understandable given the howling wind.
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5 min: A superb offload in contact by Muir finds her fellow front rower Botterman and England are storming into the Scots 22. Again Scotland scramble and clear their lines. England immediately attack down the right wing and there is more defending to do for the hosts with a defensive lineout.
4 min: A seriously strong run by Kabeya off the base of the scrum has Scotland backpedalling on England’s left. Scotland’s defence is energetic though and they close things down after Kabeya is brought to earth.
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2 min: Despite the weather England build some attacking continuity to begin. Aitchison kicks for touch – it looks like it went out on the full but England get the lineout anyway – and Aldcroft then knocks on after the Red Roses work the ball from right wing to left.
First half kick off!
Let’s go.
The Italian referee, Clara Munarini, looks freezing as she waits for kick-off.
Wassell withdraws for Scotland
Emma Wassell is a late withdrawal from the Scotland pack. Fiona McIntosh takes her place for her Scotland debut.
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The teams are out, and we now have rain to add to the wind.
The weather forecast for 3pm is 97% rain and 44mph wind. Spicy!
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“We’re not benchmarking ourselves against England or France,” says Bryan Easson on the BBC, while being buffeted by the wind. “But we will benchmark our performances [against them].”
“Experience is important today, especially with the weather … we’ll have to manage the game.”
Sarah Hunter, now the England defence coach, has a quick chat with the BBC. She is mic-ed up while out on the pitch helping with their warm-up.
“It’s a bit blustery but the same for both sides,” Hunter says of the strong winds in Edinburgh. “We’ve got a plan for playing with the wind and against it … our half-backs will control that for us.
“Marlie hasn’t been dropped. She’s gone on to the bench. It’s not based on performance … it’s horses for courses and Marlie has got a great role to play when she comes off the bench.”
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The England lock Rosie Galligan has a remarkable back story:
This weekend’s other matches in the Women’s Six Nations are:
Ireland v Wales (4.45pm today)
France v Italy (12.30pm tomorrow)
Here’s hoping that France v Italy is as exciting as the men’s version:
Sarah Rendell previews today’s match. Is this a New England, in view of the new head coach John Mitchell taking the emphasis away from the driving maul?
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“The fallow week presented a moment to reflect on the opening rounds and grow the elements of our game,” the England head coach, John Mitchell, was quoted as saying on the RFU website.
“Our learnings all build towards evolving our performance. We are looking forward to building on this and taking another step forward together against Scotland this weekend.”
Teams
Lana Skeldon, the hooker, and full-back Chloe Rollie return for Scotland, along with Meryl Smith in the centres. For England the headline is the captain, Marlie Packer, starting on the replacements’ bench: Abbie Ward and Amy Cokayne come in with Zoe Aldcroft switching to blindside flanker and taking the captain’s armband. Emily Scarratt is sidelined by a calf injury.
Scotland: Rollie; Lloyd, Orr, Smith, Grant; Nelson, Mattinson; Bartlett, Skeldon, Belisle, McIntosh, McMillan, Malcolm (capt.), Stewart, Gallagher. Replacements: Wright, Martin, Clarke, McIntosh, McLachlan, McDonald, Thomson, McGhie.
England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Aitchison, Hunt; Botterman, Cokayne, Muir, Galligan, Ward, Aldcroft (capt.), Kabeya, Matthews. Replacements: Powell, Carson, Clifford, Feaunati, M Packer, L Packer, Harrison, Gregson.
Referee: Clara Munarini (Ita)
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Preamble
Who can stop England? The Red Roses have won 26 straight Women’s Six Nations matches and are two from two in this year’s tournament under their new head coach, John Mitchell. They have won five consecutive titles and victory today would keep them on course for a grand slam.
Today’s hosts last defeated England in 1999, so the head-to-head record is hardly encouraging, but on the plus side they will have a Scottish record crowd for women’s rugby cheering them on: Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium is sold out and will be packed with 7,774 supporters (mostly) praying for a win over the Auld Enemy.
Bryan Easson’s Scotland recorded a narrow victory against Wales in their opening fixture before impressing defensively in a 15-5 loss to France. Mitchell’s England have been aiming to play a more expansive game, so home defending will definitely need to be on point. “If we stick to the gameplan we want to play we have got nothing to worry about,” said Scotland’s full-back, Ellie Rollie, this week. Scotland have won two of their past three home matches, and belief won’t be an issue, but a powerful England team remain heavy favourites.
Kick-off: 2.15pm BST
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