Your Starters (For your main course please scroll down the menu)
After two fearsome hakas the Red Roses could face the friendly dance and song of the Boks as they came to join them for training sessions at Worcester. It was smiles and goodwill all round.
You couldn’t scrape the smile off Zoe Aldcroft’s face. How about a birthday, nomination as World Player of the Year (no doubt to replace banned icing on the birthday cake), then a call from the boss suggesting she might like to captain her team on Sunday?
Her Red Rose side was much closer to a 2030 pick than anything we’ve seen before. Harriet Millar-Mills may have been surprised to find herself the most capped player on the field at kick-off; Saracens, the table-toppers every season of the Prem 15s, had one starter, the proud owner of three caps. Strange times.
The Main Course
I was wrong; apologies. The Red Roses, playing in a fetching red today, didn’t score 100 points, only 89. But at least Scotland can now share with the USA the burden of shipping the most points at English hands.
This wasn’t quite a perfect performance for the hosts, but the faults could be counted on few fingers; the plusses kept on coming.
Not two minutes into the game Vickii Cornborough, appropriately England’s No 1, scored the first try off a clinically efficient line-out. (7-0)
Two more minutes and the ball fell into Abby Dow’s hands, operating today at full-back; no need to wonder why. Three fierce fends coupled with electric pace took her from her own half to the line. The World Tries of the Year have already been nominated. Do tries scored on 21 November 2021 count towards the 2022 trophy? (12-0)
The first black mark was awarded to Alex Matthews who didn’t give Lydia Thompson a final pass. But the crowd favourite celebrated her 50th cap minutes later in the right corner. This was her 37th try for the nation.
Second black mark: two penalties in a row after Hope Rogers made the first of her traditional runs through traffic.
Now followed the first example of a fault that was hard to credit from a team coached by Rob Cain. The long line-out throw was not straight. For the rest of the game the USA persisted in calling long throws till the ‘not straight’ verdict rose towards double figures.
This was incomprehensible. The day was quite breezy, so the throwers needed all the help they could get. It didn’t come. English hands happily pinched ball that shouldn’t have been theirs.
England grew careless in mid-half; Dow threw a final pass behind Thompson’s ear and players were caught offending at rucks. Julianne Zussman offered Zoe Aldcroft her first experience of a talking-to.
But the Americans were under constant pressure. The speed of English thought and action meant they were constantly trying to catch a train that had already left the station. Ruck speed was electric; the backs constantly varied their modes of attack. Lagi Tuima was much more at home restored to the No 12 shirt, and either side of her were two gold-plated exponents of the game, Helena Rowland and Holly Aitchison, whom the 15s game can feel delighted to have gained from 7s.
On the half-hour Lark Davies got her regulation try on the back of another controlled drive. (22-0)
The Red Roses’ attacks were long and threatening. Now it was Aitchison who failed to give a final pass, but Leanne Infante dummied and sniped through to score.
Half-time 29-0
Curiously, we still hadn’t seen the ball moved cleanly to the wingers, despite all the possession and ground gained. The Eagles were defending heroically, but you felt they couldn’t keep up this pressure for much longer.
The second half brought a further 60 points. I’m not sure I have ever seen or written that stat before.
American guilt has to be mentioned here. They went on throwing long and wide at the line-out; the kick-offs invariably landed in Rowland’s hands for her to return a comfortable clearance. When they did gain the ball, the pressure of the defence stopped them developing profitable attacks.
Rowland caught a deep kick, ran round the edge of the defence like a winger and fed inside to Tuima who strolled over. (36-0)
There was delight all round as the new captain received the ball in midfield, did a quick feint and galloped in from a distance. (41-0)
Cain made changes to his front row as early as the 44th minute, but they couldn’t turn the tide. Another English attack ended with Sarah Beckett passing into touch, All in all, Thompson might have had four or five tries with more accurate service, but that apart, Beckett marked her return with a fine all-round performance.
The Eagles had a moment of glory when an English scrum crumpled, but the next instant Rowland picked up a loose ball, shimmied (both ways at once?) and went through to the line for another extravagant score. She converted from wide right. (48-0)
Now was the moment for Rowena Burfield to earn a well merited 50th cap. With her came Hannah Botterman and Sarah Bern, both of whom made immediate and painful impressions on American defenders.
On 52 minutes Bern had her first gallop; the result was a try for Heather Cowell on the far left, Dow did have a rare clearance kick charged down, but the Eagles couldn’t exploit; instead, on came Sarah Hunter to chalk up her 130th appearance and restore order. 1-3-0!
Bern now burst through for her try with Burnfield adding extra horsepower behind her. That was 60 points in 50 minutes.
The Eagles deserved great credit for a counter-attack that brought a penalty on the English 22; but once more a line-out proved a disaster.
England were quite happy to offer another perfect catch-and-drive for Davies to claim her second. Then she was off, to be replaced by one of the two debutants, Connie Powell, How strange that she hails from Suffolk just like a certain Amy Cokayne. With her came Lucy Packer, deprived of a game in the last Super Series, but now able to show her talents to the big crowd.
When Powell ripped the ball clear, Botterman sent an expert pass right to give Thompson enough space to go over for her second. (70-0) Powell’s face was a picture as she found herself just over the line with the ball in her grasp. (77-0) Then her first international throw-in was perfect too; a lesson for the opposition.
By now the Red Roses had registered over 1000 metres by the analysts’ reckoning, and they are completely neutral! To that they added a further 22 kicks out of hand, so this was an all-round show of high intensity.
Another Eagles attack built so slowly that Aitchison could pick a misdirected pass off her toes and run in solo from a distance.
The final deed was left to Bern who accepted a pass from Zoe Harrison to equal England highest ever score.
Result: England 89 USA 0
Player of the Match: Abby Dow
Teams
England:
15. Abby Dow (Wasps, 21 caps); 14. Lydia Thompson (Worcester Warriors, 49 caps); 13. Holly Aitchison (Saracens, 3 caps); 12. Lagi Tuima (Harlequins, 11 caps); 11. Heather Cowell (Harlequins, 1 cap); 10. Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 9 caps); 9. Leanne Infante (Bristol Bears, 47 caps); 1. Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins, 63 caps); 2. Lark Davies (Loughborough Lightning, 34 caps); 3. Maud Muir (Wasps, 3 caps); 4. Harriet Millar-Mills (Wasps, 65 caps); 5. Zoe Aldcroft (captain, Gloucester Hartpury, 27 caps); 6. Alex Matthews (Worcester Warriors, 44 caps); 7. Sadia Kabeya (Loughborough Lightning, 1 cap); 8. Sarah Beckett (Harlequins, 21 caps)
Bench:
16. Connie Powell (Gloucester-Hartpury, uncapped); 17. Hannah Botterman (Saracens, 25 caps); 18. Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears, 39 caps); 19. Rowena Burnfield (Wasps, 49 caps); 20. Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lighting, 129 caps); 21. Lucy Packer (Harlequins, uncapped); 22. Zoe Harrison (Saracens, 33 caps); 23. Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins, 17 caps)
USA:
15 McKenzie Hawkins; 14 Jennine Detiveaux; 13 Amy Talei Bonte; 12 Katana Howard; 11 Kayla Canett; 10 Megan Foster; 9 Carly Waters; 1 Hope Rogers; 2 Saher Hamdan; 3 Charli Jacoby; 4 Hallie Taufoou; 5 Alycia Washington; 6 Rachel Ehrecke; 7 Kate Zackary (captain); 8 Kristine Sommer
Bench:
16 Kathryn Treder; 17 Maya Learned; 18 Nick James; 19 Jenny Kronish; 20 Elizabeth Cairns; 21 Olivia Ortiz; 22 Joanne Fa’avesi; 23 Sarah Levy
Officials:
Referee: Julianne Zussman (RC)
ARs: Doriane Domenjo (FFR) and Francesca Martin (WRU)
TMO: Ian Davies (WRU)
with thanks to rugbyreferee.net
Afterthoughts
As the Eagles were trotting out at Sixways their Sevens sisters were preparing their visit to Dubai. A glance down that list reveals how much talent the Fifteens squad were missing (Emba, Gustaitis, Kelter, Maher, Tapper, Thomas…) Meantime England could parade Aitchison, Cowell, Kildunne, Matthews, Rowland and Thompson, all past Sevens performers.
One unexpected feature of the November landscape is the ever-changing captaincy. Sarah Hunter has been in charge for longer than most people can remember, so it’s no surprise that Simon Middleton was checking the candidates. When the obvious choice, Emily Scarratt, was injured, he spread the net wider. Abbie Ward had already taken the job on more than once, but in this series both Poppy Cleall and Zoe Aldcroft have been honoured.
It may all seem sweetness and light for the Red Roses, but they have had to submit to one day off during the entire autumn series. Even professionals have to make serious sacrifices for the common good.
