England Women held off a determined Wales to land a 20-13 victory at the Stoop on Saturday. This puts England at four from four for the 2016 Six Nations, landing the side the Triple Crown, with just France left to play next Friday.
The home team dominated from the start and a driving maul from the 22m line left Ceri Large to dot down between the posts. A conversion from Amber Reed put England 7-0 ahead at 10min.
England kept control throughout the first half and an impressive offload from Reed provided Large with her second try on the night, which was again converted by Reed. A penalty kick from Robyn Wilkins put Wales on the board by half time to leave the score at 14-3.
Wales clawed themselves back into the game with tries from Alisha Butchers, who pounced on a charge down, and an intercept try from Wilkins.
However, prop Rocky Clark charged down the conversion attempt and a final penalty from Reed sealed the win for England.
England Women Lead Coach Scott Bemand praised his side’s effort. “That was a proper test match – England v Wales is always going to be tough.
“They came on the back of a good result against France, full of confidence and we knew they would be hard to break down.
“At times we made it a little bit tricky for ourselves but the character of this group continues to show, they keep evolving, and we have given ourselves the opportunity to go to France and try to win the Grand Slam.”
Captain Sarah Hunter added: “It was a really hard fought victory this evening. We set out to take each match as it comes and Wales threw everything at us. They came back and the momentum swung against us. We really had to dig deep and find a little bit extra to get the win.”
England’s final Six Nations game of the tournament takes place next Friday against France at the Stade de la Rabine, Vannes, KO 8.00pm GMT , to give England the chance of landing their first Six Nations title since 2012.
England Scorers:
Tries: Large (2)
Conversions: Reed (2)
Penalties: Reed (2)
Wales Scorers:
Tries: Butchers (1), Wilkins (1)
Penalties: Wikins (1)
England match-day 23 against Wales
15. Katie Mason (Bristol)
14. Lydia Thompson (Worcester)
13. Lauren Cattell (Saracens
12. Ceri Large (Worcester)
11. Lotte Clapp (Saracens)
10. Amber Reed (Bristol)
9. La Toya Mason (Darlington Mowden Park)
1. Rochelle Clark (Worcester)
2. Emma Croker (Richmond)
3. Vickii Cornborough (Richmond)
4. Emily Braund (Lichfield)
5. Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park)
6. Abbie Scott (Darlington Mowden Park)
7. Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol)
8. Sarah Hunter (Bristol)
Replacements
16. Amy Cokayne (Lichfield)
17. Heather Kerr (Darlington Mowden Park)
18. Bianca Dawson (Wasps)
19. Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield)
20. Poppy Leitch (Bristol)
21. Poppy Cleall (Saracens)
22. Bianca Blackburn (Worcester)
23. Leanne Riley (Richmond)
Wales Women
15 Dyddgu Hywel (Scarlets / Pontyclun)
14 Bethan Dainton (Dragons / Bristol)
13 Hannah Jones (Scarlets / Penybanc)
12 Robyn Wilkins (Ospreys / Llandaff North)
11 Elen Evans (Scarlets / Caernarfon)
10 Elinor Snowsill (Dragons / Bristol)
9 Keira Bevan (Ospreys / Skewen);
1 Catrin Edwards (Scarlets / Llandaff North)
2 Carys Phillips (Ospreys / Skewen)
3 Megan York (Dragons / Ynysddu)
4 Rebecca Rowe (Dragons / Richmond)
5 Shona Powell-Hughes (Ospreys / Skewen)
6 Rachel Taylor (Dragons / Caernarfon – Captain)
7 Sian Williams (Dragons / Worcester)
8 Alisha Butchers (Scarlets / Penybanc)
Replacements:
16 Amy Price (Ospreys / Skewen)
17 Cerys Hale (Dragons / Pontyclun)
18 Amy Evans (Ospreys / Skewen)
19 Siwan Lillicrap (Ospreys / Skewen)
20 Gemma Rowland (Dragons / Wasps)
21 Mel Clay (Ospreys / Pencoed)
22 Kerin Lake (Ospreys / Skewen)
23 Adi Taviner (Ospreys / Skewen)
England Women Six Nations:
Scotland 0 – 32 England
Friday 5 February
Broadwood Stadium, Glasgow
Italy 24 – 33 England
Saturday 23 February
Stadio Gino Pistoni, Ivrea
England 13-9 Ireland
Saturday 27 February
Twickenham Stadium
England 20-13 Wales
Saturday 12 March
Twickenham Stoop
v France
Friday 18 March (9.00pm local)
Stade de la Rabine, Vannes
Report courtesy of England Rugby
