Those who bought tickets for the Red Roses’ trip to Twickenham on April 26 in anticipation of a grand-slam decider have not been disappointed. France have had a few scares along the way, England not so much. Dominant throughout.
With 80 per cent of their championship done, England have scored 213 and conceded 29, with 33 tries for and five against. For many adoring fans of this stupendous team, a preordained result is no concern at all (certainly many supporters of the men’s side wouldn’t balk at invincibility) and 15,530 spectators turned up knowing what would happen. The home heroines would win and Sarah Bern, thunderous again as she knocked over Scottish defenders for 50 minutes, could joyously thrust you on to TikTok.
In York, Cardiff, Cork and Leicester, it hasn’t mattered who wore England’s jerseys. There have been three different fly halves and three different centres, all with a chance to own the shirt in the final round. The props have interchanged and you seldom notice the difference because Bern and Maud Muir obliterate everyone in the tight and loose.
Maddie Feaunati has been one of the major positives of the championship, and if head coach John Mitchell decides to stick with the status quo his No 8 would be Alex Matthews, a star of the women’s game for several years already. Zoe Aldcroft, the new captain, is the only Red Roses player to have started every match so far. “People say we need to be beaten but we’re beaten in training all the time, we push each other to be better and we have so much respect for each other,” the wing Claudia MacDonald said.
France have won all four games too, beating Italy 34-21 in yesterday’s first match, but with less poise. Their biggest margin of victory has been 30 points while England’s smallest has been 33. For all the talk of a two-horse race, if there is anything other than an English grand slam next weekend — it would be a seventh successive season without defeat in this championship — chalk it down as a colossal upset.
Scotland had all of 67 caps of experience on their bench, with three players primed to make their debuts. They beat Wales by three points in the opening round before losing to France and Italy. Meanwhile England are now on 54 wins in their past 55 matches, and the English dominance of this fixture predates this era by some margin: Scotland’s previous win was in Belluno, Italy, at the 1999 European Championship.
They had few means of repelling the home side’s advances. There were six tries in the first half, all of them converted by Holly Aitchison in one of her finest performances off the tee. Kelsey Clifford, Marlie Packer — her 50th international try — Abbie Ward and Lark Atkin-Davies all crossed the line from short range.
MacDonald, the player of the match, made a compelling case for inclusion against France on Saturday ahead of Jess Breach, threatening throughout on the left wing. As a sometime scrum half, she does not sit out wide and wait to be involved, and her first try came when she broke through the middle, stepping Chloe Rollie off her left foot.
“I have to sit down at home and make a few cups of tea and go through the spreadsheet to pick the side,” Mitchell said. “We have two or three areas of selection I really have to think about.”
MacDonald had a second after the interval when England were in full sail. Abby Dow ran back a kick and sent Jade Shekells down the right, then they shipped the ball smartly to the left wing for MacDonald to sprint clear. It was the team score of the day. The best solo effort was Dow’s late 60-metre run down the right flank, muscling off three defenders, and MacDonald also gave the pass for Dow’s second.
MacDonald had put an end to Scotland’s only attacking chance of the first half with an interception, and it was by similar means that Aldcroft scored England’s third try. The captain rushed up to shut off an overlap and Helen Nelson passed it almost straight to her before she cantered 40 metres to the line.
Shekells, in her first start after making her debut off the bench in the opening round, showed up well in attack but may not have done enough to dislodge Tatyana Heard.
As the hour neared, Scotland sensed a blemish on the scoreboard and their pack mauled over the line, the try awarded to Lisa Thomson via the TMO. They fought well to limit England to three second-half scores.
England: Tries Clifford (5min), M Packer (16), Aldcroft (20), MacDonald 2 (26, 49), Ward (33), Atkin-Davies (40), Dow 2 (73, 78). Cons Aitchison 7. Scotland: Try Thomson (58). Con Nelson.
England E Kildunne; A Dow, M Jones (E Scarratt 62), J Shekells (H Rowland 58), C MacDonald; H Aitchison, L Packer (N Hunt 58); K Clifford (H Botterman 50), L Atkin-Davies (M Campbell 50), S Bern (M Muir 50), R Galligan, A Ward, Z Aldcroft (M Talling 55), M Packer, M Feaunati (A Matthews 58).
Scotland C Rollie (sin-bin 78); R Lloyd, E Orr, L Thomson, F McGhie (L Scott 53); H Nelson (R Philipps 72), C Mattinson (R Clarke 60); A Young (L Bartlett 53), L Skeldon (E Martin 53), E Clarke (M Poolman 66), B Boyd (A Ferrie 66), S Bonar (G Bell 72), E Gallagher, R McLachlan, J Konkel.
Referee C Munarini (It).
