Red Roses secure comfortable Six Nations bonus point win against Wales
England Women scored 11 tries as they cruised to a 63-0 bonus-point win over Wales Women in the 2017 Six Nations at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday.
Worcester Valkyries wing Lydia Thompson scored a hat-trick of tries while Amy Wilson-Hardy and Danielle Waterman both crossed twice.
The Red Roses went in at half-time with a 36-0 lead thanks to scores from Wilson Hardy, Amy Cokayne, Natasha Hunt, Thompson, Katy Mclean and Sarah Hunter, with Emily Scarratt kicking four conversions.
They continued their form in the second half as Thompson (twice), Waterman (twice) and Wilson Hardy all went over again.
The victory followed up last week’s 26-13 comeback win over France and sees England top the Women’s Six Nations table with the additional bonus point secured after just 23 minutes, ending a run of five consecutive victories for Wales.
England showed a much-improved start from last weekend and was ahead in the third minute when the ball was sent wide to Wilson-Hardy. Five minutes later Cokayne crashed over for her sixth international try and Hunt was on the end of another flowing move soon after to score her side’s third.
The Red Roses sealed the bonus point when Thompson scored down the wing before Darlington Mowden Park Sharks fly-half Mclean cut inside to score in the corner after 27 minutes to move on to 401 international career points for England. Captain Hunter was then on the end of a catch and drive for her side’s sixth try three minutes before the break.
England came back after half time for Waterman to show her pace and strength to finish in the corner, and nine minutes later she dived over for her 24th try on her 24th Six Nations appearance.
Wilson Hardy crossed for her second try after 61 minutes and Thompson completed her hat trick six minutes later.
England managed to keep Wales out for the remainder of the match to mark Darlington Mowden Park Sharks second row Tamara Taylor’s 100th international appearance with a comfortable win.
Taylor said: “We had such an early kick off that I didn’t want any distractions this morning. I, therefore, marked the occasion on Thursday so that this morning I could just focus on the game. To get such a win was brilliant but we’re not the finished product yet. There are still things for us to work on but we are now beginning to see our potential as a team.”
Head coach Simon Middleton added: “We are proud of how we came out and played today. We definitely built on our performance against France and it was a real team effort out there. There are still things for us to work on but it was great to get the clean sheet and keep them from scoring as Wales put up a strong fight, right up to the final whistle.”
Wales 0 – 63 England
Tries: Wilson Hardy (2), Cokayne, Hunt, Thompson (3), Mclean, Hunter, Waterman (2)
Conversions: Scarratt (4)
England match-day 23 against Wales
15 Danielle Waterman (Bristol, 66 caps, Scott (56))
14 Lydia Thompson (Worcester Valkyries, 29 caps)
13 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield, 63 caps, Burford (56))
12 Amber Reed (Bristol, 34 caps)
11 Amy Wilson-Hardy (Bristol, 5 caps)
10 Katy Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 82 caps)
9 Natasha Hunt (Lichfield, 35 caps, Mason (56))
1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester Valkyries, 119 caps, Lucas (61))
2 Amy Cokayne (Lichfield, 22 caps, Fleetwood (61))
3 Laura Keates (Worcester Valkyries, 58 caps, Bern (61))
4 Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield, 40 caps)
5 Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 100 caps)
6 Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol, 26 caps, Cleall (48))
7 Marlie Packer (Bristol, 42 caps)
8 Sarah Hunter (Bristol, 87 caps, Aldcroft (67)) (c)
16 Vicky Fleetwood (Saracens, 56 caps)
17 Justine Lucas (Lichfield, 16 caps)
18 Sarah Bern (Bristol, 6 caps)
19 Zoe Aldcroft (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 4 caps)
20 Poppy Cleall (Bristol, 9 caps)
21 La Toya Mason (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 61 caps)
22 Emily Scott (Saracens, 18 caps)
23 Rachael Burford (Aylesford Bulls, 62 caps)
England Women Six Nations fixtures
England 26 – 13 France
Saturday 4 February, Twickenham Stadium
Wales 0 – 63 England
Saturday 11 February, Cardiff Arms Park
England v Italy
Saturday 25 February, KO 1 pm, live on Sky Sports 2
Twickenham Stoop
Tickets available
England v Scotland
Saturday 11 March, KO 1 pm, coverage delayed until 8 pm on Sky Sports 2
Twickenham Stoop
Tickets available
Ireland v England
Friday 17 March, KO 8 pm, live on Sky Sports Mix
Donnybrook Stadium, Dublin
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