Six Nations – Round Three
England put on another breathtaking display in front of a packed house.
The game began in the foulest weather, rain and wind making handling a chancy business.
The Red Roses showed off their passing skills till Zoe Aldcroft, today’s captain, took her eyes off the ball and dropped it. Abbie Ward showed her how to do it. She caught a testing pass from Holly Aitchison and off-loaded as she fell off balance – remarkable stuff. Hannah Botterman made a big break towards the line, but another forgiveable dropped pass prevented a score.
In the sixth minute Amy Cokayne confirmed it was possible to get over the line. Perhaps the tackling was flabbier than it should have been, but she had made her mark early on her return to the white shirt. She was to experience the full range of emotions in the game.
Now England displayed their outstanding skills in manufacturing a multi-pass move that finished with Abby Dow diving for the right corner. The last pass came from Sadia Kabeya, whose performance revealed her readiness to replace Marlie Packer at open-side.
The Scots had first use of the wind but made distressingly little use of it. It took Helen Nelson 15 minutes to send a first long kick deep into English territory. The outcome was a knock-on by Chloe Rollie as she fumbled the return.
Now the sun came out, but small errors persisted. Botterman intercepted, then tried an angled kick to emulate the backs – straight into touch. Rachel McLachlan also intercepted, ran a distance and a ruck ensued. Sadly, the whistle had long since gone for an earlier infringement. In the crowd noise and the wind about five players had failed to hear its warble. The AR had to intervene.
Jess Breach thought she had scored, but the TMO intervened to point out an earlier knock-on. Next it was Maud Muir who celebrated a try too soon. This time the TMO’s interruption proved far more serious. Cokayne was found guilty of a dangerous tackle on Eva Donaldson. She was shown yellow. It was unfortunate that a camera spotted Marlie Packer smiling broadly at the culprit as she returned to the stand. Plenty of spectators had spotted the incident and offered their opinion.
On 32 minures Coreen Grant was hauled off for an HIA; she didn’t return.
Now England manufactured their third and best try of the half. Aitchison inserted a telling grubber through midfield; Meg Jones chased it. As she was heading right towards cover defence, she aimed a deliberate kick back to the left along the ground. Ellie Kildunne followed up, collected and rolled over beside a post to complete another remarkable finish.
Half-time: 0-17
And that was into a strong wind. Not good news for the Scots.
Now the Red Roses put their handling skills on show. Passes of every size and shape were given and taken. Aitchison would take her time collecting Hunt’s passes, but was never in danger of being caught in possession. Kabeya did misdirect a pass to Dow, but England had a penalty anyway. They dominated a scrum; Hunt couldn’t make the line, but Kabeya could.
That was the bonus point, and Aitchison at last had a conversion in front. Now she could launch her longest kicks with the wind. One effect was as I had feared. The ball hit a post, Rollie collected it and refused to kick it to safety. She was saved only by a penalty awarded at the ensuing ruck.
When Scotland at last won a clean line-out – that had been a source of frustration all through – they sent the ball down the line. But now, unlike the previous game in Wales, the final pass went down; the outside backs had been starved of the ball.
The English backs tried one of their specials; it worked like a treat. Starting from the far right, Aitchison wrapped around Heard. Dow came speeding from the right wing to take a pass and send an extra long one to Breach. She had time and space to collect it above her head and fly into the left corner.
Scottish efforts were hindered by indecision: to pass wide or drive ahead? Too often the result was a lack of cohesion; players were not in the best position to sustain the movement the ball-carrier had opted for. The ball kept dropping back into English hands.
But now came the most dramatic sequence of the game. Cokayne ripped the ball from Scottish hands and broke through close to the line. England couldn’t complete the move, but the TMO intervened again. He pointed out a shoulder-to-head contact by Cokayne. The inevitable result was a yellow, but yellow plus yellow equals red. Munarini crossed her arms to indicate a bunker review, but the red card had to stand anyway. So that was a disconsolate end to Cokayne’s year-long wait for another test cap.
England down to 14 once more, but they’re quite used to it. The Scots were still failing to exploit a position. Lisa Thomson, who had appeared at half-time, muffed her penalty badly. The upshot was a long low touch-finder by Breach.
As a new England front-five was formed, Rosie Galligan had to come off. Scotland won the next scrum and cheered their triumph. But the board was reading 0-29.
Nelson didn’t help matters by launching a high kick that gained very little ground. Breach caught it in the air and ran to the line as if she was reliving her debut match against the Canadians. 0-34
The moment the red card was confirmed, on came Marlie Packer to rally the troops. England were now in cruise control. Kildunne went over on the left to complete a neat trio of tries: 2 + 2 + 2 in three rounds.
Mairi McDonald now attempted a diagonal kick in her own half; Breach reclaimed it easily and waltzed past a series of outstretched arms to register her second. 0-39
Scotland now enjoyed a spell of possession more in keeping with that great win in Cardiff. But the outcome was a searching kick by Lucy Packer, now at No 9, to set them back on their heels.
Fittingly – it was almost inevitable – it was the other Packer who completed the scoring. 0-46 On 79 minutes Abbie Ward effected another jackal turnover to stop the Scots dead. I remember wondering years ago why she never seems to show fatigue. I still don’t know the answer.
The ultimate irony came on 80 minutes with a Scots’ penalty still far from the English line. What to do? Answer: Thomson punted into touch. Their only solace was that still no winning side has topped 50 points.
Result: Scotland 0 England 46 Player of the Match: Ellie Kildunne
Teams:
Scotland
15 Chloe Rollie 14 Rhona Lloyd 13 Emma Orr 12 Meryl Smith 11 Coreen Grant 10 Helen Nelson 9 Caity Mattinson 1 Leah Bartlett 2 Lana Skeldon 3 Christine Belisle 4 *Fiona McIntosh 5 Louise McMillan 6 Rachel Malcolm (captain) 7 Alex Stewart 8 Evie Gallagher
16 Elis Martin 17 Molly Wright 18 Elliann Clarke 19 Eva Donaldson 20 Rachel McLachlan 21 Mairi McDonald 22 Lisa Thomson 23 Francesca McGhie
*uncapped
NB Emma Wassell (4) a late withdrawal; Eva Donaldson on to the bench
England:
15 Ellie Kildunne 14 Abby Dow 13 Meg Jones 12 Tatyana Heard 11 Jess Breach 10 Holly Aitchison 9 Mo Hunt 1 Hannah Botterman 2 Amy Cokayne 3 Maud Muir 4 Rosie Galligan 5 Abbie Ward 6 Zoe Aldcroft (captain) 7 Sadia Kabeya 8 Alex Matthews
16 Connie Powell 17 Mackenzie Carson 18 Kelsey Clifford 19 Maddie Feaunati 20 Marlie Packer 21 Lucy Packer 22 Zoe Harrison 23 Sydney Gregson
Referee: Clara Munarini (FIR)
The Hive, Edinburgh
Attendance: 7,774, a new Scottish record
Afterthoughts
We must all apologise to Clara Munarini for giving her a second bucketful of bad weather in western Edinburgh. Remember, she was in charge as the two teams met next door at Murrayfield. Sunny weather soon subsided into a snowstorm. England players used hot-water bottles to make handling possible.
Just to clarify one point: John Mitchell’s problems of selection are eased when certain players aren’t 100% fit. So while fans were asking for example, ‘Where’s Scaz?’, the medical team could inform him that she wasn’t feeling her best. That does make his choices simpler. With Helena Rowland out for the moment, it conveniently reduced his midfield choices.
Just seven Wasps players in the England side today.
