Red Roses romp in as Wales draw blank again
DEFENDING champions England made it two wins out of two with an eight-try thumping of Wales.
The hosts scored four tries in the first half through Poppy Cleall, Abby Dow, Leanne Riley and Ellie Kildunne to lead 26-0.
Katy Daley-Mclean converted three and added three more when Marlie Packer, Rachael Burford and Kildunne crossed in the second half.
Cleall added a seventh before Kildunne also completed her double late on.
Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton said: “To score over 50 points was terrific.
“I was pleased with the defence in particular. We talked about it in the week and today we were a lot more physical than we were against Italy.”
Blindside Cleall started the scoring, bundling over following a penalty to the corner, and they doubled their advantage before the 20-minute mark as Danielle Waterman dummied inside before offering right wing Dow a clear run in.
The third try came when scrum-half Riley had a look down the blindside, decided there was more joy to be gained going open and duly dived over from close range, with centre Kildunne, 18, picking off a prop in midfield before racing clear to score.
England led 26-0 at halftime and last year’s 63-0 scoreline was in range.
Flanker Marlie Packer drove over for their fifth try on 47 minutes, but a greasy ball and inaccuracy hampered England’s efforts.
But the sixth try arrived, Burford dotting down Daley-Mclean’s kick under the sticks, before Cleall dived over unopposed.
Kildunne provided a spectacular finale – a marvellous long-range solo try.