England’s discipline was a concern for the second time in this Women’s Six Nations as they had to finish their match against Scotland with 14 players after Amy Cokayne was shown a red card.
The hooker, who was starting her first international game in a year, was sent off in the 53rd minute after she was shown a second yellow card. The red card was England’s second in three games after the No 8 Sarah Beckett was sent off early on in their opener against Italy.
The Red Roses’ discipline may be raising a few eyebrows from the outside looking in but the attack coach, Lou Meadows, says it is not something the team are worried about. “These things happen because we are playing with such ambition,” Meadows told the BBC. “We want the ball and we are trying to get it back as often as possible and trying to retain it. We are trying to protect it.
“When you do those things at the intensity and level we are there’s bravery and a level of risk. At times we are just not as disciplined in the risk-taking side of it and that will come through our technical training. We will work on those areas but we’re not worried about it.”
Despite being a player down, England extended their winning run against Scotland to 26 games. Scotland have been waiting 25 years to beat England but the Red Roses ensured their winning streak would not be broken. It means John Mitchell’s side continue their perfect tournament in terms of results and are top of the table with the maximum 15 points.
Scotland were hampered by England’s defence but at times they were the architects of their own downfall. They had attacking chances in the first half but their faltering lineout ended many of them prematurely.
The hooker Lana Skeldon, who returned after missing the second round through injury, did not throw straight in the first lineout and the hosts lost a further five in the first 40. The set piece improved in the second half but they ended with more lineouts lost than won.
England were scrappy early on, partly thanks to the windy and rainy conditions. Their driving maul, usually ever-dependable, did not go to plan and Scotland brought it down legally but Cokayne was fed the ball and she beat a defender to score.
The try seemed to help the Red Roses click and what followed was a delightful team try. Almost every single player touched the ball before Sadia Kabeya ran a good line to offload to Abby Dow who dotted down. The move was a fine demonstration of the expansive attack that England have deployed in this tournament.
England had two tries ruled out, the second because of a tip tackle from Cokayne on the Scotland No 8 Evie Gallagher, and the hooker was sent to the sin bin. But Scotland could not capitalise on being a player up and it was England who scored through the tournament’s top try-scorer, Ellie Kildunne, for the visitors to head into the break 17-0 up.
Kabeya sniped off the back of a driving maul to score the bonus-point try. Scotland then had some possession after England coughed up a few penalties but they could not make a dent on the scoreboard and the visitors made them pay with Dow offloading a peach of a pass for Jess Breach to score.
But England’s discipline let them down once again. Cokayne ripped the ball from Skeldon but in the process her shoulder made contact with her opposite number’s head. She was shown a yellow card and, as it was the second time she was sent to the sin bin, she was given a red.
England were again the next to score though through Breach. Kildunne, the player of the match, added to her try tally before Marlie Packer, who had been dropped to the bench, scored their eighth and last.
Ireland scored five tries to seal a first victory of the 2024 Women’s Six Nations with a commanding 36-5 win over Wales in Cork. Defeat for Wales was their third in a row during the current campaign as Ireland ended a run of seven straight tournament losses.
Aoife Wafer, Eve Higgins and Neve Jones were the Ireland try scorers in the first half, with Katie Corrigan and Beibhinn Parsons adding two more touchdowns after the interval. Gwennan Hopkins, on her debut, scored a late consolation try for the visitors.
It was Wales’s sixth consecutive loss, with the team stranded on a single point from three defeats in this year’s Six Nations. Ireland move above Italy and Scotland into third place in the table before the Italians’ match in France on Sunday. PA Media
The prospect of a Scottish upset was something that the full-back Chloe Rollie had said they would be “silly” not to consider a possibility. But while Bryan Easson’s side are improving, as shown by their performances in the first two rounds of this tournament, it is clear that they still have a way to go to topple England.
“We are going to draw a line under it,” the Scotland head coach told the BBC. “We will come back in on Monday and review it.
“Let’s not take away the first two performances which were good. We are not happy with that today, that’s not us. We will draw a line under it and we will learn from it. We will take it into the next two really important games.”
Scotland finish the tournament with away games against Italy and Ireland and will still be targeting a third-place finish.
