Leicester
By half time England had put the game to bed. The second 40 was far less decisive.
It was teeming with rain at the start, but the sun did come out.
It was all England from the first whistle. Holly Aitchison sent up a perfect kick-off an inch from the side-line. Scotland knocked on. Her long pass found Claudia Macdonald who was just forced into touch. Lark Atkin-Davies’ first line-out throw was as accurate as all her others, but Ellie Kildunne’s final pass didn’t find Macdonald.
It took England five minutes to score. Lucy Packer ran a scrum free-kick, and the pack hammered at the line, Kelsey Clifford getting the verdict. That clean touchdown was a lesson for the Italians. 7-0
Scotland got their engine running and Chloe Rollie made a half-break, but they lost possession soon enough. That was to be their fate for most of the match.
At Scotland’s first scrum Evie Gallagher packed at 8 and Jade Konkel at 6. That policy remained through the game; Konkel is not yet the force she was before her injury.
The statisticians were in shock when England lost their first line-out in 45. Lana Skeldon drove, but Sarah Bern snaffled the ball to reasssert control.
Macdonald caught a high box-kick by Caity Mattinson about three feet in the air. Her would-be tackler did well to let her go. Remind me who has had two neck injuries.
A dominant English scrum led to Marlie Packer’s 50th try. Not bad for a mere forward. 14-0
On twenty minutes a midfield box-kick by Mattinson looked promising. The ball bounced back into Scottish hands, but a follow-up pass by Helen Nelson fell into Zoe Aldcroft’s lap – end of story. 21-0
At last England failed to ground the ball over the line. It’s contagious. Aitchison shaped to send one of her long pass wide, changed her mind and gave Jade Shekells beside her another chance to show her penetration.
Now a Konkel offence allowed Macdonald to show her pace and evasive skills. She carved her way through to the line for England’s bonus point try. Aitchison’s fourth conversion in a row. 28-0
A fine jackal by Gallagher gave the Scots their first big opportunity, but another interception, now by Macdonald, halted progress. She was just forced into touch by a great tackle from Emma Orr. Instead it was Abbie Ward’s turn to add to the tally with a low twisting drive.
That was 33 points in 33 minutes, just like basketball. 35-0
Now we saw the familiar Aitchison-Heard wrap, only it was Shekells today not Tatyana. Abby Dow
just put a foot in touch to prevent a sixth try. A great tackle by Fran McGhie.
England came again with relentless attacks. This time it was LAD with her 25th try. Aitchison slotted her sixth out of six. Anyone would think she wanted that 10 shirt on permanent loan.
Half-time: England 42 Scotland 0
My thoughts cast back to HQ in 2019 when England put 80 unanswered points on Scotland. I wondered then if people would go on bothering to turn up. Welford Road was pretty packed today, over 15,000 through the gates. And the leadership group still had a parley (led by Marlie Packer!) before they came off.
The next ten minutes were relatively quiet, then a deep kick into the English 22 gave the Scots the chance they sought, but they coudn’t complete. Shekells made a thrust down the right, the ball spun left where the centurion Packer found Macdonald who raced over for her second. 49-0
It was time for a new England front row. Another of Heard’s rotating take-and-gives (again by Shekells!) and Kildunne dinked a left-foot kick though. The skill levels were extraordinary.
Ward intercepted Elis Martin’s first line-out throw. Her second, far more accurate, led to a nice raid, stopped by a thunder-clap double tackle on Rollie by Dow and Meg Jones.
On 55 minutes Aldcroft left the field (to sleep till next Saturday?). She was replaced by Morwenna Talling, Packer resuming as captain.
Now Scotland were at the English line for the first time, the backs adding their weight to the drive. Munarini saw it as a try but needed confirmation from the TMO. Replays hunted vainly for a sight of the ball. Result: try to Lisa Thomson. 49-7
On 62 minutes the crowd roared as local girl Scaz came on to win her 118th cap.
Across the first 30 minutes of this half the score was 7-7. But then… let’s say Abby Dow walked past three tacklers. You take my point. Another quite astonishing solo score. Aitchison’s eighth kick slipped past the left post, her first miss. 54-7
The final pass in an England move fell into touch, but the TMO spotted that it had been deflected by a Rollie hand. She saw yellow with 95 seconds left. The outcome was unselfish passing from Kildunne and Macdonald to give Dow her second in a row. An 80-minute player.
Result: England 59 Scotland 7
Player of the Match: Claudia Macdonald
Referee: Clara Munarini (FIR)
Attendance: 15,530
Teams
England
1 Kelsey Clifford 2 Lark Atkin-Davies 3 Sarah Bern 4 Rosie Galligan 5 Abbie Ward 6 Zoe Aldcroft (captain) 7 Marlie Packer 8 Maddie Feaunati 9 Lucy Packer 10 Holly Aitchison 11 Claudia Macdonald 12 Jade Shekells 13 Meg Jones 14 Abby Dow 15 Ellie Kildunne
16 May Campbell 17 Hannah Botterman 18 Maud Muir 19 Morwenna Talling 20 Alex Matthews 21 Mo Hunt 22 Helena Rowland 23 Emily Scarratt
Scotland
1 Anne Young 2 Lana Skeldon 3 Elliann Clarke 4 Becky Boyd 5 Sara Bonar 6 Evie Gallagher 7 Rachel McLachlan 8 Jade Konkel 9 Caity Mattinson 10 Helen Nelson (captain) 11 Francesca McGhie 12 Lisa Thomson 13 Emma Orr 14 Rhona Lloyd 15 Chloe Rollie
16 Elis Martin 17 Leah Bartlett 18 Molly Poolman 19 Adelle Ferrie 20 *Gemma Bell 21 *Rhea Clarke 22 *Rachel Philipps 23 Lucia Scott
*uncapped
Afterthoughts
After this display John Mitchell’s decisons over selection became a whole heap trickier. I’ll make them for him at a later date. My fees are reasonable.
This was close to another 40-minute performance by the Red Roses. Do we expect too much? Only five Wasps players in the English side today.
For the Scots the second half was the one to remember. They stepped their game up and slowed England’s progress admirably. Evie Gallagher was quite outstanding, but once more I question their ability to realign fast after the breakdown. All too often the first receiver was left without a positive option. Their dangerous wingers saw little of the ball. At least the three new caps did the nation proud when they came on.
