England v Scotland – Round One
Kingston Park, Newcastle
The win gave England the longest unbeaten run in the 6 Nations.
Result: England 58 Scotland 7
Player of the Match: Marlie Packer
People do like telling us rugby is a simple game. At the top level though it can look desperately complex. Once again England played at high tempo, showing off a range of refined skills.
For the first quarter Scotland played thoroughly well, confirming the optimistic tones of the management and captain. But they couldn’t turn possession into points – an old story.
They were facing an England side that kicked only when profitable; their handling was sharp.
The first scrum saw the Scots retreat at a rate of knots. Mackenzie Carson on debut will have enjoyed that.
To open England’s account Claudia Macdonald was on the end of a long passing move, fed by a delightul off-load from Amber Reed.
On 12 minutes the Scots put together a fine move; Emma Orr was denied by the merest fraction of an inch from an opening score. But while her side looked good, the Red Roses did the scoring. Amy Cokayne found herself on the far right wing to go over for her 32nd test try.
Reed had another sad setback when an injury forced her off the field. In her place Tatyana Heard confirmed all her promise. Rugby gives and rugby takes away.
Macdonald then completed a remarkable score on the left wing. Fast handling was causing defenders problems, but she still had a lot of work to do to escape clutches – another special for her. Why did Emily Scarratt name her as the likeliest top try-scorer of the competition? This was her second.
A trademark burst by Sarah Bern led to a try for Heard, and all Scotland’s hard work was coming undone. Despite some deft combinations, they found the home defences relentless, causing handling errors and turnovers.
Cokayne squeezed in her second try in just before the break.
Half-time: 31-0
Scotland had been playing so much better than in recent years, but that margin showed the hill they still have to climb.
At once Poppy Cleall showed her mastery of the well-timed, unexpected line to power over.
Yet over this second 40 the Scots showed plenty of resilience, putting together moves that took some stopping. But they were all blockeded till the 77th minute when Chloe Rollie danced past grasping arms for her second try in successive years against England.
But by then, the Red Roses had safely passed the 50-point mark with an admirable display of all- round rugby.
One typical try saw Abby Dow make a break and contrive an off-load to Sadia Kabeya who drove over.
There was thunderous applause as the hero of the day, Sarah Hunter, took her final leave of an England match. The crowd stood to acclaim her. She managed to maintain her smile despite the mixed emotions she must have been feeling.
When will another player reach 142 caps? Not soon, I reckon.
England had a spot of bother when Cleall was forced off the field with a leg injury. All the subs were now on – including the three debutants – so for the second game running they finished with 14. That didn’t halt the scoring though; they completed a total of ten tries to ensure the five points they needed.
Several players commended themselves: both the halves played well, Carson enjoyed herself, but not as nuch as Marlie Packer, who assumed the captaincy on Hunter’s departure and harvested a further hat-trick of tries. She looks as unstoppable as ever.
Teams
England:
15. Abby Dow (Harlequins), 14. Jess Breach (Saracens), 13. Lagi Tuima (Harlequins), 12. Amber Reed (Bristol Bears), 11. Claudia MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), 10. Holly Aitchison (Saracens), 9. Lucy Packer (Harlequins), 1. *Mackenzie Carson (Saracens), 2. Amy Cokayne (Harlequins), 3. Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears), 4. Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury), 5. Poppy Cleall (Saracens), 6. Sadia Kabeya (Loughborough Lightning), Marlie Packer (co-captain, Saracens), 8. Sarah Hunter (co-captain, Loughborough Lightning)
Bench:
16. Lark Davies (Bristol Bears), 17. *Liz Crake (Wasps), 18. *Kelsey Clifford (Saracens), 19. Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning), 20. Sarah Beckett (Gloucester-Hartpury), 21. *Ella Wyrwas (Saracens), 22. Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury), 23. Emma Sing (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Scotland:
15. Chloe Rollie (Loughborough Lightning), 14. Coreen Grant (Saracens), 13. Emma Orr (Heriot’s/ Biggar), 12. Meryl Smith (University of Edinburgh), 11. *Francesca McGhie (Watsonians), 10. Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning), 9. Caity Mattinson (Worcester Warriors), 1. Leah Bartlett (Loughborough Lightning), 2. Lana Skeldon (Worcester Warriors), 3. Christine Belisle (Loughborough Lightning), 4. Lyndsay O’Donnell (Bristol Bears), 5. Louise McMillan (Saracens), 6. Rachel Malcolm (captain, Loughborough Lightning), 7. Rachel McLachlan (Sale Sharks), 8. Evie Gallagher (Worcester Warriors)
Bench:
16. Jodie Rettie (Saracens), 17. Anne Young (Sale Sharks), 18. Elliann Clarke (University of Edinburgh), 19. Eva Donaldson (University of Edinburgh), 20. Eilidh Sinclair (Exeter Chiefs), 21. Mairi McDonald (Exeter Chiefs), 22. *Beth Blacklock (Harlequins), 23. Liz Musgrove (Wasps)
* = uncapped
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU)
Afterthoughts
An enthusiastic crowd of 10,053 turned out to support both teams. But local fans will have to travel over 100 miles next season to watch a Premier 15s game.
The absence of Emma Wassell, Jade Konkel-Roberts and Sarah Bonar was a far more serious blow for the Scots than the legion of missing persons for the Red Roses*.
The new contracts benefiting 28 Scottish players came on stream just three months ago. Three of the nine Scotland-based members of the training sqiad made it into back line of the starting XV – congratulations to them.
Amber Reed was much the most experienced England back, with over twice the number of caps of the rest. By contrast the half-back pair shared a very modest 24 caps – by today’s standards.
*Missing Persons Bureau (capped players only):
Botterman, Bryony Cleall, Cornborough, Fleetwood, Galligan, Harper, Harrison, Hunt, Infante, Leitch, Keates, Kildunne, Matthews, McKenna, Muir, Powell, Rowland, Scarratt, Talling, Thompson, Ward
Only one of England’s backs started in last year’s game in Edinburgh. Precisely half the pack started.
Players and spectators were delighted to see names on shirts. How times change! When they were first proposed the shocked response was ‘that’ll make them look like prisoners!’
Between 2018 and 2023 England lead Scotland 343 points to 30. Such are the ongoing disparities. Yet the Scots showed many good qualities in their first outing as full professionals.
