First Six Nations weekend

Huge win for England

It was roses, roses all the way in Cardiff, and the roses were all on the England jerseys as they opened their Six Nations campaign with a massive victory over Wales.

In Madrid Spain won a close match with Ireland, an important victory in view of the placings for the World Cup in Canada next year. Last year Spain also beat Ireland.

France eliminated one contender for the crown they presently wear by beating Scotland up in Roubaix, near Belgium.

This weekend's clash between England and France looks set to decide the Six Nations.

England vs Wales, 81-0 at Cardiff Arms Park

England Women ran in thirteen tries against a young Welsh side .

England led from the second minute, when good handling put Worcesters Kim Shaylor in for the first of her three tries. But, despite dominating possession and territory throughout the first half, a mixture of some spirited Welsh defence and basic handling errors meant England led only 22-0 at the break.

The second half started much as the first with an England try by Kim Shaylor inside the first two minutes. Following a drive up field by Shannon Baker, Sue Day returned a loose Welsh kick to half way, before her well timed pass put Kim Shaylor clear to score under the posts. This marked the turning point of the match with Englands back line clicking into gear as the Welsh began to tire.

With Susie Applebys arrival at flyhalf England scored nine tries and 59 unanswered points in a dazzling second half display. As well as Kim Shaylors hat-trick of tries, there were two tries a piece for Paula George, Sue Day and the Lichfields flyer, Charlotte Barras, who also converted six of the second half scores to finish the match with an impressive 22 points.

England coach, Geoff Richards said: We are very pleased with the final result. We struggled to find our rhythm early on and were pretty unhappy with our first half performance. But we got it together after the break and in the end played some exhilarating rugby."

Scorers:

For England:
Tries: Kim Shaylor 3, Paula George 2, Sue Day 2, Charlotte Barras 2, Rochelle Clark, Selena Rudge, Shannon Baker, Emily Cooke
Cons: Karen Andrew 2, Charlotte Barras 6

Teams:

England: 15 Sue Day, 14 Charlotte Barras, 13 Michaela Staniford, 12 Paula George, 11 Kim Shaylor, 10 Karen Andrew, 9 Jo Yapp (captain), 8 Catherine Spencer, 7 Helen Clayton, 6 Shannon Baker, 5 Rachel Vickers, 4 Jenny Sutton, 3 Vanessa Gray , 2 Selina Rudge, 1 Rochelle Clarke.
Replacements: 16 Ann OFlynn, 17 Vanessa Huxford, 18 Karen Jones, 19 Lois Moulding, 20 Amy Turner, 21 Susie Appleby, 22 Emily Cooke

Wales: 15 Elen Evans, 14 Manon Williams, 13 Rhian Williams, 12 Lowri Jones, 11 Louise Rickard, 10 Awen Thomas, 9 Kerry Jenkins, 8 Emma Phillips, 7 Kylie Wilson (captain),6 Catrina Nicholas , 5 Becky Dando, 4 Claire Donovan, 3 Louise Horgan , 2 Jenny Davies, 1 Amy Broadstock
Replacements: 16 Nicola John, 17 Becky Davies, 18 Claire Horgan, 19 Stacey Saunders, 20 Rachel Brown, 21 Lucy Berry, 22 Ayla Rose

Referee: Colin Stanley (Ireland)
Touch judges: Robert Mota, Jason Langdon (both Wales)

France vs Scotland, 22-15 at Stade Vélodrome in Roubaix

France scored three tries to nil in this important victory for the Six nations champions as they seek to keep the title they won last season.

At half-time France led 10-3 after France had scored from a five-metre line-out which they mauled over flour a try, scored by loosehead Danièle Irazu. The try came on the stroke of half-time.

In the second half they scored two more tries. The first was a penalty try following a five-metre scrum. Donna Kennedy was sent to the sin bin for killing the ball. Wing Marion Talayrac scored their last try half way through the second half.

For Scotland scrumhalf Paula Chalmers kicked five penalty goals.

Assistant Scottish coach Stevie Gemmell described his teams performance as an improvement on their last outing against the French in the FIRA championship last May when they lost 25-6.

We played a lot more rugby tonight and two of Frances three tries were from our mistakes. The girls are disappointed but theres a real belief there and they're just keen to get back on the park against Ireland next week."

Scorers:

For France:
Tries: Danièle Irazu, Marion Talayrac, penalty try
Cons: Estelle Sartini
Pen: Estelle Sartini

For Scotland:
Pens: Paula Chalmers 5

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Lucy Millard, 14 Mel Christie, 13 Katie Davies, 12 Veronica Fitzpatrick, 11 Erin Kerr, 10 Rimma Petlevannaya, 9 Paula Chalmers, 8 Donna Kennedy, 7 Shona Watt, 6 Sarah Meet, 5 Clare Muir, 4 Lisa OKeefe, 3 Jilly McCord, 2 Iona Frickleton, 1 Karen Findlay (captain)
Replacements: 16 Gail Russell, 17 Lynne Reid, 18 Heather Lockhart, 19 Susie Brown, 20 Suzi Newton, 21 Mary Pat Tierney, 22 Chris Ovendon

France: 15 Christelle Le Duff, 14 Catherine De Villiers, 13 Lucie Elodie, 12 Sandrine Agricole, 11 Marion Talayrac, 10 Estelle Sartini (captain), 9 Stéphanie Provost, 8 Sandra Jaureguiberry, 7 Delphine Plantet, 6 Aline Sagols, 5 Corinne Devroute, 4 Maylis Bonnin, 3 Fanny Gelis, 2 Laetitia Salles, 1 Danièle Irazu,
Replacements: Anne Sophie Canizares, Elodie Vivat, Rosa Marce, Julie Jenevein, Clotilde Flaugere, Julie Pujol, Dalila Boukerma

Referee: Sabin Cortabarría (Spain)

Spain vs Ireland 19-17 at Central de la Ciudad Universitaria in Madrid

This win takes Spain a long way towards qualifying for the Women's World Cup in Canada in 2006.

Spain, whose forwards were stronger, were well in the saddle at 13-0 at half-time after a try by Agurtzane Orbergozo, a conversion, a penalty goal and a dropped goal by experienced Inés Etxeguibel but Ireland fought back in the second half with two tries by Suzanne Fleming. Two dropped goals by Inés Etxeguibel, one between each of the Suzanne Fleming tries, took the score to 19-12 with eight minutes to go. Back came Ireland for a third try, when Lynne Cantwell out-paced the cover for a try in the corner but the missed conversion cost them the match.

Ireland scored three tries to one but it was not enough to win.

Scorers:

For Spain:

Try: Agurtzane Obregozo
Con: Inés Etxeguibel
Pen: Inés Etxeguibel
Drops: Inés Etxeguibel 2

For Ireland:
Tries: Suzanne Fleming 2, Lynne Cantwell
Con: Sarahjane Belton

Teams:

Ireland: 15 Amanda Greensmith, 14 Nuala Ni Chadhain, 13 Suzanne Fleming,12 Patrique Kelly, 11 Lynne Cantwell, 10 Sarah Jane Belton (captain), 9 Tania Rosser, 8 Joy Neville, 7 Jen Leacy, 6 Rachel Boyd, 5 Germaine Healy, 4 Rosie Foley, 3 Edel Coen,2 Jean Lonergan, 1 Fiona Coughlan
Replacements: 16 Marie Barrett, 17 Emma Stanley, 18 Rachel Tucker, 19 Orla Brennan, 20 Louise Beamish, 21 Joanne OSullivan, 22 Grace Davitt

Spain: 15 Mariona Vila, 14 Montserrat Poza, 13 Inés Etxeguibel, 12 Rocío Ramírez, 11 Agurtzane Orbegozo, 10 Ana María Aigneren,9 Isabel Rodriguez (captain), 8 Karitte Alegria, 7 Angelina Masdeu, 6 Olga García, 5 Aitziber Porras, 4 Maríola Rus, 3 Ana De La Parte, 2 Aroa González, 1 Rocío García Eiras
Replacements: 16 Nerea Otxoa, 17 Marta Carreras, 18 Rosanna Estanyol, 19 Maria Teresa Delgado, 20 Maria Del Mar Pérez, 21 Raquel Socías, 22 Concepción Ramos

Referee: Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
Touch Judges: Felix Villegas, Carmen Pareja (both Spain)