Women`s Six Nations: Week One Round-up

Sunday 03rd February 2008

In the opening weekend of the Women's Six Nations there were impressive wins for Ireland, England and France, leaving the remaining three sides playing catch-up.

Ireland Women 19 Italy Women 0

Ireland's Women started their Six Nations campaign with a fine 19-0 win over Italy at St Mary's College on Friday.

They will now travel to France next week full of confidence, thanks largely to a fifteen minute purple patch in the second half in which they scored all their points.

Having dominated the first-half Ireland were left frustrated due to an impressive defensive effort by Italy, although the pressure told in the second half as Italy could no longer hold out.

An early second-half score from Ulster hooker Jess Limbert set the Irish on their way, with further tries from second row Germaine Healy and impressive flanker Sinead Ryan wrapping the victory up.

The comfortable lead allowed Ireland coach John O'Sullivan to clear his bench with five new players being capped.

Afterwards O'Sullivan said he was pleased with his side's resilience.

"It was a tough first half for certain and there was a lot of rust there on our part," he explained.

"We hadn't played together in a Test game for around ten months so that was understandable.

"But I was delighted with how we controlled the game in the second half and we really picked up the urgency and pace.

"Wins to start with (in a championship) are crucial and this was a good performance that we can build on. We did lots well but we've got a huge game in France next weekend."

The Scorers:

For Ireland Women:
Tries: Limbert, Healy, Ryan
Cons: O'Sullivan, Davitt

The Teams:

Ireland Women: 15 Sarahjane Belton (c), 14 Lynne Cantwell, 13 Patrique Kelly, 12 Shannon Houston, 11 Grace Davitt, 10 Joanne O'Sullivan, 9 Tania Rosser, 8 Orla Brennan, 7 Sinead Ryan, 6 Eimear O'Sullivan, 5 Germaine Healy, 4 Caroline Mahon, 3 Marie Barrett, 2 Jess Limbert, 1 Fiona Coghlan.
Replacements: 16 Gillian Bourke, 17 Yvonne Nolan, 18 Kate O'Loughlin, 19 Louise Austin, 20 Louise Beamish, 21 Niamh Briggs, 22 Amy Davis.

Italy Women: 15 Michela Tondinelli, 14 Silvia Pizzati, 13 Paola Zangirolami (c), 12 Veronica Schiavon, 11 Anna Mariani, 10 Valentina Schiavon, 9 Elisa Facchini, 8 Silvia Gaudino, 7 Giuliana Campanella, 6 Sara Pettinelli, 5 Martina Barbini, 4 Daniela Gini, 3 Flavia Severin, 2 Elisa Cucchiella, 1 Cristina Sanfilippo.
Replacements: 16 Veronica Ceradini, 17 Alessandra Mestriner, 18 Greta Petese, 19 Lara Fabbri, 20 Mirjam Keller, 21 Samatha Pagli, 22 Giulia Bratush.

Referee: David Walker (Scotland)
Touch judges: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Ken Beggs (Ireland)

England Women 55 Wales Women 0

Reigning champions England started their campaign in the best possible style, hammering a poor Wales side 55-0 at London Irish RFC on Saturday.

Wales resisted England's consistent attacks for the opening twenty minutes but once Charlotte Barras crossed the floodgates opened and the gulf in class between the sides became increasingly evident.

Gary Street's side are chasing a record breaking third consecutive Grand Slam and on the evidence of this game it is hard to see anybody stopping them. Wales buckled under the pressure, leaking a further eight tries to add to Barras' effort.

Saracens centre Claire Allan was at the forefront of England's attack and claimed a hat-trick of tries, adding to efforts from Barras, Catherine Spencer, Sarah Hunter, Michaela Staniford, Jane Leonard and Katherine Merchant, leaving Street happy with his sides display.

"We are very pleased with this performance," said Street.

"It's a great way to start the six nations. Wales had talked up what they were going to do to us all week where as we did our talking on the pitch. We have now played seven games out of eight without conceding a single point and I think that speaks volumes about our defence while our attack is also firing on all cylinders with nine tries here today."

Meanwhile Welsh captain Mel Berry was left to pick up the pieces as her team prepare to face Scotland next week.

"This was always going to be a huge task for us, but we can still go into next Sunday's clash with Scotland at Taffs Well with plenty of heart," said Berry.

"It was our goal at the start of the championship to finish in the top two places and that is still achievable."

The Scorers:

For England Women:
Tries: Barras, Spencer, Hunter, Allan 3, Staniford, Merchant, Leonard
Cons: McLean 3, Richardson 2

The Teams:

England Women: 15 Charlotte Barras, 14 Danielle Waterman, 13 Claire Allan, 12 Rachael Burford, 11 Michaela Staniford, 10 Katy McLean, 9 Amy Turner, 8 Catherine Spencer (c), 7 Margaret Alphonsi, 6 Sarah Hunter, 5 Joanna McGilchrist, 4 Tamara Taylor, 3 Katy Storie, 2 Amy Garnett, 1 Rochelle Clark.
Replacements: 16 Emma Layland, 17 Sophie Hemming, 18 Sarah Beale, 19 Jane Leonard, 20 Alice Richardson, 21 Katherine Merchant, 22 Victoria Massarella.

Wales Women: 15 Non Evans, 14 Louise Rickard, 13 Rachel Poolman, 12 Clare Flowers, 11 Hayley Baxter, 10 Naomi Thomas, 9 Amy Day, 8 Mel Berry (c), 7 Nicola Evans, 6 Catrina Nicholas, 5 Claire Donovan, 4 Gemma Hallett, 3 Jenny Davies, 2 Rhian Bowden, 1 Louise Horgan.
Replacements: 16 Claire Horgan, 17 Ruth Evans , 18 Rachel Taylor, 19 Jenny Doyle, 20 Laura Prosser, 21 Awen Thomas, 22 Michaela Reed.

Referee: Christine Bigaran (France)
Touch judges: Paul Stanley (England), Deborah Innes (England)

Scotland Women 15 France Women 43

France Women started their Six Nations campaign with a hard-fought 43-15 victory over Scotland Women at Meggetland on Sunday.

Despite scoring two tries, through winger Tanya Griffiths and captain Jilly McCord, Scotland were outclassed by a superior French outfit.

Assistant coach Jamie Dempsey was positive about the game and felt that the team started well before slowly dropping off, and believes his side can take positives into their next game with Wales Women.

"The first half performance was excellent and we set ourselves a very high standard," he said.

"However the second half took its toll on our fitness levels and we did end up looking a little jaded.

"If we can give the same sort of commitment and determination next week against Wales, we stand a good chance of coming away with a good result."

Scorers to follow when available

The Teams:

Scotland Women: 15 Lynsey Douglas, 14 Hazel Bielinski, 13 Veronica Fitzpatrick, 12 Suzi Newton, 11 Tanya Griffith, 10 Louise Dalgleish, 9 Sarah Gill, 8 Sonia Cull, 7 Lynne Reid, 6 Lana Blyth, 5 Lindsay Wheeler, 4 Jilly McCord (c), 3 Beth Dickens, 2 Sarah-Louise Walker, 1 Heather Lockhart.
Replacements: 16 Joan Hutchinson, 17 Mary Lafaiki, 18 Alex Pratt, 19 Louise Moffat, 20 Laura Steven, 21 Lynsey Harley, 22 Julie Sanaghan.

France Women: (from) Mayalen Aghigar, Sandrine Argicole, Céline Allainmat, Aurélie Bailon, Céline Barthhelemy, Marie Bourret, Claire Canal, Séverine Collombat, Mélanie Gauffinet, Lucille Godiveau, Marie Charlotte Hebel, Caroline Ladagnous, Anaïs Lagougine, Jeanne Laurence, Angeline Mahuas, Clémence Ollivier, Delphine Plantet, Sandra Rabier, Célia Rigout, Laetitia Salle, Estelle Sartini, Jennifer Troncy.

Referee: Michael Black (Ireland)
Touch judges: James Bell (Scotland), Graeme Marshall (Ireland)