The Red Roses secured the Triple Crown with a 62-24 bonus point victory against Wales at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium.
With 26,247 people in the stands, yet another attendance record was set this tournament, with this being the highest ever for a women’s six nations match away from the Allianz Stadium.
Wales also earned a try bonus point, after a performance that saw them score the highest points they ever have against England.
The match started with Ellie Kildunne keeping the ball in play with an excellent display of balance and core strength. With the fans roaring her on, Kildunne’s first carry saw her beat a defender to set up England’s first attack of the match.
Maddie Feaunati scored England’s opening try of the match, after her powerful line break took England to within five metres a few phases earlier. Helena Rowland, on kicking duties once again for the Red Roses, added the extra points.
Shortly after, the Red Roses were over the line again. This time, through Millie David, who scored on her England debut. The ball was passed down England’s attacking line to David, who had a clear run to the line on the wing, courtesy of an overlap.
Wales found and exploited a weakness in the English attack. A dropped ball after a miscommunication between the half-backs Lucy Packer and Holly Aitchison, was picked up by Wales’ scrum-half Keira Bevan. She sprinted down the pitch, getting within 10 metres of the line, but the English defence rallied and a try saving tackle was made by Meg Jones.
The damage was done as the Welsh attack was now primed. Bevan picked the ball up from the base of the ruck and dived over the try line to score Wales’ first points, which included the extra two as she converted her own try.
Millie David’s debut lasted less than 20 minutes before she was replaced by Jess Breach for a HIA.
Marlie Packer scored the third English try by peeling off the back of the rolling maul, and Rowland happily obliged to add the extra points.
England’s bonus point was secured in Bristol after only 27 minutes.
Skipper Jones exploited a gap in the Welsh defensive line and sprinted away from the defenders to run it into the corner.
As chants of “England” echoed around the stadium, Wales were back on the offensive. Undeterred by the raucous crowd cheering on the reigning World Cup champions, Wales battled on. They found their way over the try line in the corner with a clever lineout interplay resulting in Kelsey Jones adding five points for her side.
Just before half-time, the English backs displayed textbook teamwork skills for Jones’ second try. Claudia Moloney-MacDonald showcased her speed down the touchline, handing off a Welsh defender, delaying the pass inside to the waiting Kildunne. When that pass did arrive in Kildunne’s hands, the offload to Jones was superb and perfectly timed, allowing for the centre to have an easy run over the line.
With England scoring five tries to Wales’ two, the first half ended with the Red Roses dominating the scoreboard 29-12.
Wales nearly conceded within the first few minutes of the second half, as Kildunne raced towards the try line, but a crucial try saving tackle came in from Jasmine Joyce, who also forced a knock on in the process.
Red Roses’ hooker Amy Cokayne peeled off from a rolling maul five metres out, but she still had work to do. Wales’ scrum-half Bevan proved no match for the powerful and determined Cokayne, who touched the ball down to score. Rowland’s successful conversion extended England’s lead to 24 points.
The 52nd minute saw the TMO being called into action for the first time in the match. The result was a yellow card and 10 minutes on the sideline for Wales’ fullback Kayleigh Powell for a deliberate knock on that prevented a line break opportunity for her opponents.
Immediately capitalising on Wales being a player down in their back line, England flung the ball out to Moloney-MacDonald on the wing, who showed her athletic agility by leaping into the air to ground the ball in the corner whilst Freya Bell attempted to tackle her into touch.
In the last play facing 14 players, England were patient on attack, playing through the phases with the forwards. And then the backs got their hands on the ball. A long pass from Aitchison unleashed Jess Breach. The Saracens winger sprinted down the touch line. She scored in the corner. Zoe Harrison converted with her first kick at the posts.
With Wales then restored to their full roster, England’s lead was 48-12, and Moloney-MacDonald thought she had extended it with another try for her country. She had gathered the ball that had been kicked through by Aitchison and seemingly grounded the ball over the line. A TMO check confirmed that there was separation when Moloney-MacDonald went to ground the ball, and so the try was chalked off.
Marlie Packer, though, did extend the Red Roses lead, with Harrison adding a further two points. It was another rolling maul that set Player of the Match Marlie Packer up for her second of the match.
This highlighted the strength of England’s forwards, which could be pivotal looking ahead to Bordeaux on 17 May, where the most anticipated match of the tournament is set to take place between France and England.
Wales did not give up. The forwards proved this, figure-headed by Bethan Lewis. The forwards pushed closer to the English try line, and Lewis finished the job by pushing over the line. Bevan converted successfully.
Wales’ elation was cut short by Maud Muir. In an almost identical try to the one Lewis had scored a minute earlier, Muir reached out and grounded the ball in the Welsh try area. Harrison’s kick stretched the score out to 62-19.
After 78 minutes, a Mexican wave finally succeeded in moving around the stands, just as Wales set up their attack in the English 22. A half-break from Kayleigh Powell drew in the defenders, creating a two player overlap on the wing. Seren Lockwood caught the ball, the hardest part, and ran the ball in to score in the corner and ensure Wales departed Bristol with a try bonus point.
Therefore, the match ended on a positive note for Wales, despite losing 62-24 and conceding 10 tries.
There is a break in tournament proceedings following this weekend, with play resuming on the 9 May. England travel to Parma to face Italy, and Wales will be heading to Belfast where Ireland will be awaiting them.
Both sides will be looking to build on the positive attacking performances they displayed today, and England will be hoping to line up a Grand Slam showdown in Bordeaux with a victory over the Italians.
A damper on that shining light for England, however, is that they incurred yet even more injuries to key players. Sadia Kabeya and Millie David both had to be removed from the field as a result of injury. Red Roses Head Coach John Mitchell spoke after the match about the injury crisis his side is being afflicted with.
“We knew that we’d always be turning on that, on the pathway, in this tournament. We’ve probably gone a lot deeper than we’d probably expected.
“It is providing new opportunities for us to develop and build and install players.”
