Scarratt inspires England to autumn clean sweep
Of all the tricks up Emily Scarratt’s sleeve, on this occasion it was a simple sidestep from the centre who cut inside to guillotine blue shirts, slide in under the posts and set England on their way to a clean sweep of autumn internationals.
It effectively drained Italy, who had offered little in response up until that point save for their aggressive line speed and their only points via a Michela Sillari penalty.
Scarratt’s score was one of 10 which ensured England drew the curtain on their first year of professionalism in dominant fashion. The Red Roses have triumphed on all but one occasion in 2019, falling short only to their nemesis and world champions New Zealand in this summer’s Super Series.
Following two gritty victories over France, Simon Middleton made several changes for this final autumn Test against a country he readily singled out last week as the upcoming European nation on the international scene.
Among them was Vicky Fleetwood, who marked her return to her accustomed position at flanker by crashing over inside 10 minutes as England showcased their robust, forwarddriven brand of rugby in their first outing at the home of Bedford Blues.
Poppy Cleall snuck over moments later as the Red Roses patiently built the phases and in similar ilk to England’s first, Heather Kerr emerged at the back of another driving maul to dot down and continue her impressive run at hooker, despite being one of four players in this autumn squad not to be professionally contracted.
That Rownita Marston touched down on her second international appearance – having only linked up with
England at their Bisham Abbey training base for the first time a month ago – serves as a reminder that this pool of England players could well throw up more surprises by the time Middleton will be tasked with choosing his Six Nations squad.
“There’s some pretty big contenders in there,” conceded the England head coach. “Look at Row Marston, nobody knew who she was until this series. We’ve had her on our radar for a bit but she’s an X-factor player who would do anything to play for England. She’s shown it over the past few weeks, and there are a few more.”
Abby Dow was rewarded for the glimmers of electric pace she has shown throughout this three-series campaign when she ran in on the cusp of half-time. That the winger’s score was only the second by a back throughout England’s autumn campaign aptly showed how limited the Red Roses have been on either flanks. It was a theme that continued after the break when both teams were forced to grapple with greasy conditions. Kerr grabbed her second on the hour mark after a powerful shove from another maul which prompted Middleton to withdraw his big guns in Scarratt and Hunter, the latter equalling England’s second highest all-time Test player in Jason Leonard on her 119th appearance.
“I wanted to see fluency,” added Middleton. “I didn’t want to see 15 players looking like they’ve never played together because they have, they’ve done it repeatedly on the training field. They’ve deserved an opportunity and I thought they were great. That obviously leaves you open to bring the firepower onto the field which we did in the last 20 minutes.”
Amy Cokayne joined in on the fun for the hosts’ seventh, before a penalty try and Sarah Bern’s late score ensured England eclipsed their 55-0 hammering of the Azzurre in front of a recordbreaking 10,495 crowd at Sandy Park in March.
‘I wanted fluency. They’ve done it on the training field and I thought they were great’