Early try to Waterman opens Scots’ floodgates
ENGLAND Women ran in seven tries as they beat Scotland 43-8 to make it three wins from three in the 2018 Six Nations.
Danielle Waterman, Sarah Bern, Charlotte Pearce and Ellie Kildunne all crossed in the first half to bring up a bonus-point before the interval.
Scotland responded with a long-range penalty from Sarah Law and a try from No.8 Jade Konkel. But Pearce, Lagi Tuima and Waterman scored again as England stretched away.
Fly-half Katy Daley-Mclean added four conversions to inflict Scotland’s third straight defeat.
England head coach Simon Middleton said: “We did some really good things tonight, some of the contributions from the younger players were outstanding.
“At the same time we gave away some unnecessary penalties which led to yellow cards, so there is lots to look at, and learn from, going into our next game against France, which will be a really tough fixture but one we are looking forward to.”
Middleton added: “We want to pay tribute to Rocky tonight also, she’s an incredible player and incredible person, it’s a great achievement.”
Waterman started the scoring in the third minute after seizing on Lauren Cattell’s offload and streaking under the posts.
Prop Bern drove over for the second after seven minutes, Scotland floundering against the speed of England’s attack.
A penalty allowed the home side to get on the scoreboard, scrum-half Law landing a long-range effort.
But a mistake by 18-yearold England full-back Kildunne, who failed to deal with a kick from Lisa Thomson, allowed Scotland to build momentum and bundle Konkel – one of their four professional players – over for a try.
The visitors responded straight away, neat handling seeing wing Pearce flying down the line into the corner, Daley-Maclean again adding the extras.
Izzy Noel-Smith became the first of two England players to be yellow-carded, Rowena Burnfield also earning a spell in the sinbin around the hour.
But Scotland couldn’t take advantage and England scored again while down to 14, Kildunne running from her own 22 to score the fourth try just before the interval.
The Red Roses continued to dominate after the break, Kildunne racing up the wing through Scotland’s defence before releasing Pearce to increase the lead.
The hosts lost prop Siobhan McMillan to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle, and England capitalised on the extra space with centre Tuima stepping her way through for a superb try.
Waterman grabbed her second barely a minute later to complete the scoring, sealing an 11th win in a row for England over Scotland in the Six Nations.