England Women march on

Monday 25th February 2008

With three rounds gone England Women are still on course for a record breaking third straight Grand Slam.

This weekend saw England claim an impressive away victory in France, Wales see off Italy and Ireland overcome a stubborn Scotland.

France Women 0 England Women 31

England Women remain on course for their third straight Grand Slam after seeing off their French rivals 31-0 in Bergerac on Saturday.

The reigning Grand Slam champions pocketed an impressive five-try victory on French turf, with Claire Allan, Tamara Taylor, Catherine Spencer and Sarah Beale, who crossed twice, all touching down.

"I am so proud of the team, this is a fabulous result," said head coach Gary Street.

"The will and desire the team displayed was outstanding. The team were led superbly by Catherine Spencer and everyone refused to let France cross and I think our opponents became demoralised by that.

"Some people will say the title in now in the bag for us, but as far as we are concerned we have won three games but we have not got any silverware to show for it yet. There are two games still to go and there is no way Scotland or Ireland are going to roll away and let us get our hands on the trophy without a serious battle."

England started as they meant to go on, crossing the French line in the first minute through Allan. From there it was all England as they turned on the style to ensure they are the only team with a chance at the Grand Slam this year.

The Scorers:

For England Women:
Tries: Allan, Taylor, Spencer, Beale 2
Cons: McLean, Richardson 2

The Teams:

France Women: 15 Caroline Ladagnous, 14 Céline Allainmat, 13 Sandrine Argicole, 12 Séverine Collombat, 11 Marie Bourret, 10 Estelle Sartini (c), 9 Jennifer Troncy, 8 Delphine Plantet, 7 Jeanne Laurence, 6 Célia Rigout, 5 Marie Charlotte Hebel, 4 Mélanie Gauffinet, 3 Céline Barthhelemy, 2 Laetitia Salles, 1 Angeline Mahuas.
Replacements: 16 Nadège Labbey, 17 Mayalen Aghigar, 18 Cyrielle Bouisset, 19 Isabel Camatta, 20 Anaïs Lagougine, 21 Aurélie Bailon, 22 Lucille Godiveau.

England Women: 15 Charlotte Barras, 14 Michaela Staniford, 13 Claire Allan, 12 Rachael Burford, 11 Danielle Waterman, 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 Karen Jones, 20 Alice Richardson, 21 Katherine Merchant, 22 Victoria Massarella.

Wales Women 27 Italy Women 5

Wales Women completed a successful Six Nations weekend for Wales with a 27-5 victory over Italy at Taffs Well on Saturday.

Despite an early Non Evans penalty, Italy enjoyed a good deal of possession and territory in the first half and were first to cross the try line courtesy of a pushover score from flanker Giuliana Campanella. Centre Veronica Schiavon failed to convert and Wales were quick to re-take the lead.

Left wing Lou Rickard, who is rapidly closing in on Gareth Thomas' Wales cap record - this was her 98th cap - ran in from 10 metres.

Despite some enterprising play, a combination of careless errors and good Italian defence prevented Wales from scoring again before the break but Mellissa Berry's side at least managed to keep Italy out to go in at the break with a three-point advantage.

Wales came out after the interval with some extra vim and vigour and a Non Evans break three minutes into play created enough space for speedster Hayley Baxter to score a try Evans duly converted.

Italian ill-discipline meant they were a player down for 20 minutes of the second half, with first Campanella then hooker Elisa Cucchiella being sent to the cooler.

Rachel Poolman enjoyed a successful first outing at outside-half after switching with Naomi Thomas at outside centre, capping her performance with a stunning solo try. After working a gap in the centre of the field, Poolman dummied and ran 20 metres to the try line, with Evans adding the extras.

In the dying minutes, it was centre Clare Flowers' turn to show a clean pair of heels to finish with a flourish.

"We are developing as a team all the time during this Six Nations championship," said Wales captain Mel Berry.

"We needed to score some tries and despite making hard work of the first half, once we started moving the ball out wide, we showed what we are capable of.

The Scorers:

For Wales Women:
Tries: Rickard, Baxter, Poolman, Flowers
Cons: N.Evans 2
Pen: N.Evans

For Italy Women:
Try: Campanella

The Teams:

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

Italy Women: (from) Michela Tondinelli, Federica Carlet, Silvia Pizzati, Paola Zangirolami (c), Anna Mariani, Veronica Schiavon, Valentina Schiavon, Silvia Gaudino, Giuliana Campanella, Sara Pettinelli, Lara Fabbri, Martina Barbini, Flavia Severin, Elisa Cucchiella, Cristina Sanfilippo, Veronica Ceradini, Greta Petese, Alessandra Mestriner, Daniela Gini, Licia Stefan, Elisa Facchini, Samatha Pagli.

Ireland Women 13 Scotland Women 3

Ireland Women were made to work hard for a 13-3 victory over Scotland Women at Templeville Road on Friday.

Scotland played with the aid of a stiff breeze in the opening half and after a number of attacks the visitors registered the game's first score with a penalty under the posts which Sarah Gill knocked over.

Before the close of the half Ireland had their riposte when fly-half Jo O'Sullivan's line break and determined sprint saw her burst through the defence to dot down and give her team the lead.

After the break Ireland dominated play and forced a penalty which was converted by Grace Davitt within five minutes of the turnaround. Ireland remained on the attack for the remainder of the match with back row Orla Brennan catching the eye as her side pressed hard for more scores.

Once again a fine pack effort helped Ireland gain crucial territory and it was at the end of one strong burst from the forwards that skipper Sarahjane Belton latched onto the ball to dive over the line and secure the win with ten minutes to go.

Ireland now just need to beat Wales when they visit in the next game to assure themselves of their best ever placing in this competition.

The Scorers:

For Ireland Women:
Tries: O'Sullivan, Belton
Pen: Davitt

For Scotland Women:
Pen: Gill

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.

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