England’s women secured their 14th Six Nations grand slam on Saturday night in a match that was a little more predictable than the one that preceded it. Sarah Hunter led her side to score 12 tries as Scotland were blown away in gale-force wind and rain.
Many of Scotland’s players now play in England’s Tyrrells League but they were no match for newly professionalised England. The England pack dominated possession and behind them the fly-half Katy Daley-Mclean mastered the horrible conditions with some astute tactical kicking. It was an unalloyed triumph for England and this was their most complete performance of the competition but perhaps not so great for the Women’s Six Nations which has a lopsided look to it this season.
Jess Breach, the England right-wing, is fast becoming a one-woman try-scoring machine and the Harlequin grabbed two more here to take her tally in seven Tests to an astonishing 20. England were 45-0 up by the interval and, although Scotland tackled until they dropped and were much more competitive after the break it was a long evening for them. In an evening of tumbling records England broke their own with their aggregate of points for the competition.
It took less than three minutes before Sarah Beckett crossed the Scottish line by the posts. The young flanker has been one of England’s most outstanding players this year and was in the thick of the early action. Daley-Mclean then sent a well-judged cross-kick towards the corner which bounced perfectly for Breach to dab the ball down.
England’s Kelly Smith goes over for one of England’s 12 tries. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Observer
Natasha Hunt, restored to the starting lineup at scrum-half, took a tapped penalty and scored a third as the one-way traffic continued. Breach grabbed her second after a kick ahead by Emily Scarratt and England were out of sight.
Kelly Smith darted over after the England scrum had powered forwards, taking advantage of some poor tackling and, as the rain lashed down, Scotland were engulfed by the white tide, with Poppy Cleall driving over. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when the referee Joy Neville showed a yellow card to Scotland’s captain Lisa Thomson and while the centre was off the field the England pack drove Amy Cokayne over with the last move of the first half.
After the break England brought on the experienced pair centre Rachael Burford and flanker Marlie Packer and the flow of tries continued, Sarah Bern crashing over by the posts and Hunter touching down as the pack drove forwards. Scarratt scored the tenth try with a well-timed gallop from the Scottish 22 and Cleall grabbed her second try. Daley-Mclean ended the game in the sin-bin for not rolling away from a ruck but it was an otherwise perfect night for the fly-half. For Scotland it was not quite as bad as their worst defeat, 89-0, here but it was not much better.
P W D L F A B Pts
England 5 5 0 0 278 45 5 28
France 4 3 0 1 166 71 4 16
Italy 4 2 1 1 60 92 2 12
Ireland 4 1 0 3 73 132 3 7
Wales 4 1 1 2 35 121 0 6
Scotland 5 0 0 5 37 188 1 1
Today Wales v Ireland 1.30pm;
Italy v France 1.30pm
