Roses thorns cut Italy to ribbons
ENGLAND crushed Italy by ten tries to nil in Bedford to complete a clean sweep of victories from their autumn internationals.
The Red Roses’ powerful driving maul and scrum were imperious throughout, with Vicky Fleetwood, Poppy Cleall and Heather Kerr going over from close range in the first 25 minutes.
Abby Dow beat two players to score in the corner, with world player of the year Emily Scarratt surging through to add a fifth try.
As weather conditions worsened hooker Kerr muscled over for the second time, with a penalty try adding to scores from replacements Amy Cokayne, Rownita Marston and Sarah Bern.
Italy – who finished second to Grand Slam winners England in this year’s Six Nations – showed short spells of resistance in the first half but looked a beaten side after the break.
Simon Middleton’s side finish the year with 12 wins from 13 games – their only defeat against New Zealand in June’s Super Series – and extend their run of victories on home soil to 17.
Try-scorer Fleetwood, who was named player of the match, said: “We stuck to our principles, played it through the forwards when we needed to and shifted it out to the backs when it was open for them. It was scrappy at times but great to come away with the win.”
The Red Roses’ opening three tries all came via lineout mauls before Dow finished off a fine move in the right corner with arguably the try of the match to close the first half.
Rain poured down during the second half but
England were persistent as the Italians tired on an increasingly heavy surface.
Scarrett showed agility to cut back through a gap to dive over, while referee Hollie Davidson sin-binned Lucia Cammarano and gave England a penalty try as the visitors could not live with the physicality of their opponents.
Having made her England debut off the bench last week, Marston came on to score her first international try before fellow replacement Bern took the hosts into double figures.
England – ranked second in the world behind the Black Ferns – will return to action in February as they begin their Six Nations defence.