Red Roses one step from perfection
The final weekend of the Women’s Six Nations sees four key questions in need of answering
Can England close out a seamless Slam?
Form and history are on England’s side as they face Scotland at Twickenham. As England have swept aside Ireland, Wales, Italy and defending champions France – all with bonus-point wins – it would take one of the great sporting upsets, not just of women’s rugby but of all time, for the winless Scots to derail the professional Red Roses.
Scotland have not beaten England since the Women’s
Six Nations aligned with the men’s tournament in 2007. Despite increased investment in recent years, including the provision of eight professional contracts, Scotland’s women have long been the poor relation of the home nations. They were also the only Six Nations side not to qualify for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
There might be a lot of doom and gloom for the Scots, who fell to a narrow defeat 17-15 by last year’s wooden spoon winners Wales in Glasgow last weekend, but they possess some outstanding players.
One battle worth watching will be between England captain Sarah Hunter and Scotland’s No8, Jade Konkel, who is a professional and played club rugby in France last season before moving to Harlequins, where she is benefiting from playing in the Premier 15s.
Such is England’s dominance in this tournament it is worth remembering that they have won the competition only twice in the past seven years – in 2012 and 2017. This was due to a mixture of rebuilding after the 2014 World Cup and players such as Emily Scarratt being used in sevens, which opened the door for traditional rivals France and Ireland.
But as they are now the only side with assured full-time professional contracts and the division of XVS and sevens programmes, this looks to be the start of a golden age for England – although hopefully not at the expense of a competitive tournament.
Will Tremouliere make France second-best?
While England have reaped the benefits of separating their sevens and XVS programmes and the return of top players from the short form of the game – including Scarratt, Natasha Hunt and
wunderkind wing Jess Breach (more about her later) – France struggled in the earlier rounds, due to the absence of front-line players on sevens duty, including World XVS women’s player of the year Jessy Tremouliere. It meant they have failed to look their usual dangerous selves and were disappointing in Doncaster, conceding four first-half tries.
Italy look like they could potentially give
Les Bleues a genuine fright in Padua tomorrow. Before losing 55-0 to England in front of a recordbreaking crowd at Sandy Park last week, the Italians had been unbeaten (although this included a draw against Wales), as they have put little focus on sevens and have an experienced and well-drilled side.
Due to the heavy nature of that defeat, their hopes of overtaking the French have been dented. Also the visitors look to be serious about ensuring they claim second spot, as Tremouliere is starting.
Will Ireland sink to a 13-year low against Wales?
Wales Women need a win over the Irish to elevate them from bottom last year to fourth place, meaning they would be the leading Celtic nation in 2019. Having won their maiden Six Nations in 2013, followed by another win in 2015,
Wales need a win over the Irish to be the leading Celtic nation in 2019
Ireland’s women were looking to emulate their men’s side and emerge as a force in the game.
However, with coach Adam Griggs working part-time as he divides his time between the XVS and the sevens, a number of high-profile retirements after the 2017 World Cup and the omission of former captain Niamh Briggs from their squad, the Irish have struggled. If they lose to Wales, they would finish fifth – their worst finish in 13 years.
Can starlet Breach top the point-scoring charts?
Another sign of England’s rampant form is that it would take four tries from France’s hooker Caroline Thomas and England prop Sarah Bern to overtake 21-year-old Breach in the try-scoring charts.
The other contender, France back row Romane Menager, is out of action due to being suspended for dangerously striking Ireland captain Ciara Griffin’s neck last week in Donnybrook.
Breach has scored seven tries so far in the tournament and has amassed a total of 18 tries in just six Test appearances. Her prolific form as a poacher also puts her in contention to be top points-scorer.
With England’s women managing to convert only 47 per cent of goal-kicking chances, Katy Daley-mclean and Breach stand at 35 points apiece as leading pointsscorers for the tournament.
There is every likelihood that if the Harlequins wing can continue her free-scoring form, she will finish as both top of the try-scoring and points-scoring charts – some achievement, regardless of gender.