Red Roses sister act sees off the Scots
POPPY AND BRYONY CLEALL ARE AMONG SCORERS IN 52-10 VICTORY
DEFENDING champions England opened their Women’s Six Nations campaign with an emphatic 52-10 win over Scotland in Doncaster.
The Red Roses ran in eight tries at Castle Park, with sisters Poppy and Bryony Cleall both scoring in a dominant display.
In the 10th minute, Marlie Packer scored the first try of 2021 tournament, which has been revamped with the teams split over two pools.
Leanne Riley, Lark Davies, Bryony Cleall and winger Jess Breach, with a fine individual effort, all added further scores ahead of half-time as England secured a bonus point to lead 33-3.
Helena Rowland also went over before Scotland scored their first try of the championship through Hannah Smith in the 54th minute before England then had hooker Davies sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle.
Scotland replacement Molly Wright was shown a red card just after the hour following a dangerous tackle which was picked up by the TMO.
England took full advantage as number eight Poppy Cleall charged over before a late penalty try wrapped up the convincing victory.
Simon Middleton’s side face Italy in Parma next Saturday.
Scotland will have a rest weekend before hosting the Azzurre at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow.
England ead coach Simon Middleton said: “I was really pleased with the first half.
“Our intensity was what we wanted particularly defensively, and our ruck speed gave us the attacking tempo we talked about. I thought we were outstanding for the majority of the first half. We got ourselves into a position where we wanted to be in the game but then didn’t kick on.
“It got a bit fractious and became stop start in the end and I’m a little disappointed in the second half. Poppy Cleall was brilliant. Her allround impact is sensational.
“I thought Zoe Aldcroft was exceptional, she’s such a consistent player. Bryony Cleall can bring something different and I’m really pleased for her. In the main everyone who came back went well. Cath O’Donnell gave us great go-forward which is what Cath does.
“We know we have plenty to work on. We’ll have a look at the penalty count, what they were for and there’ll definitely be some areas we need to smarten up in terms of our discipline. There are lots of lessons for us, one of them being how to refocus and regain momentum and control when the game starts to break up and drift. We have plenty to work on for sure.”
ENGLAND: 15. Sarah McKenna,
14. Lydia Thompson, 13. Emily Scarratt (c), 12. Lagi Tuima, 11. Jess Breach, 10. Helena Rowland,
9. Leanne Riley, 1. Vickii Cornborough,
2. Lark Davies, 3. Bryony Cleall,
4. Abbie Ward, 5. Cath O’Donnell,
6. Zoe Aldcroft, 7. Marlie Packer,
8. Poppy Cleall.
Replacements: 16. Amy Cokayne, 17. Detysha Harper, 18. Shaunagh Brown,
19. Harriet Millar-Mills, 20. Vicky
Fleetwood, 21. Claudia MacDonald,
22. Megan Jones, 23. Ellie Kildunne. SCOTLAND: 15. Chloe Rollie,
14. Rachel Shankland, 13. Hannah Smith (Watsonians), 12. Lisa Thomson, 11. Megan Gaffney, 10. Helen Nelson, 9. Mairi McDonald, 1. Leah Bartlett, 2. Lana Skeldon, 3. Christine Belisle, 4. Emma Wassell, 5. Louise McMillan, 6. Rachel Malcolm (C),
7. Rachel McLachlan, 8. Siobhan Cattigan.
Replacements: 16. Molly Wright,
17. Panashe Muzambe, 18. Lisa Cockburn, 19. Evie Gallagher,
20. Jodie Rettie, 21. Jenny Maxwell,
22. Sarah Law, 23. Liz Musgrove.