6N Women: England battle clear at the top
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:17
On Sunday at Sixways in England Women had a battle royal to beat France 16-3 and become the only unbeaten side in the Six Nations for Women and almost certainly another Grand Slam. It would be their sixth in succession.
On Sunday at Sixways in England Women had a battle royal to beat France 16-3 and become the only unbeaten side in the Six Nations for Women and almost certainly another Grand Slam. It would be their sixth in succession.
Ireland won, as was expected, but the surprise was Italy's victory over Wales.
Results, Round 3
England vs France, 16-3
Italy vs Wales, 12-8
Ireland vs Scotland, 22-3
Previous Results
Round 1
France vs Scotland, 53-3
England vs Wales, 19-0
Ireland vs Italy, 26-5
Round 2
England vs Italy, 64-5
France vs Ireland, 14-12
Wales vs Scotland, 41-12
Match Details
England vs France
It was harder than expected and the England tries which clinched the game came in the last 20 minutes.
France actually scored first when flyhalf Nadge Casenave kicked a penalty goal. 3-0 after 26 minutes. On the stroke of half-time Katy McLean levelled the scores.
Early in the second half Katy McLean goaled again to give England the lead.
England's first try came when Amy Garnett barged over from close quarters and the second came in injury time when they spread the ball wide and Katy McLean scored.
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: Amy Garnett, Katy McLean
Pens: Katy McLean 2
For France:
Pen: Nadège Casenave
England: 15 Danielle Waterman, 14 Katherine Merchant, 13 Emily Scarratt, 12 Kimberley Oliver, 11 Fran Matthews, 10 Katy McLean (captain), 9 La Toya Mason, 8 Sarah Hunter, 7 Margaret Alphonsi, 6 Heather Fisher, 5 Rebecca Essex, 4
Joanna McGilchrist, 3 Sophie Hemming, 2 Emma Croker, 1 Rochelle Clark.
Replacements: 16 Amy Garnett, 17 Claire Purdy , 18 Rowena Burnfield, 19 Catherine Spencer, 20 Georgina Rozario, 21 Rachael Burford, 22 Georgina Roberts.
France: 15 Caroline Ladagnous, 14 Dioni Aguerre, 13 Elodie Poublan, 12 Sandrine Agricole, 11 Sabrina Ramkilaoun, 10 Nadège Casenave, 9 Marie Alice Yahe, 8 Aïda Ba, 7 Marie Charlotte Hebel, 6 Koumiba Djossouvi, 5 Cyrielle Bouisset, 4 Marine Denadai, 3 Christelle Chobet, 2 Gaëlle Mignot, 1 Hélène Ezanno.
Replacements: 16 Audrey Noguera, 17 Céline Barthelemy, 18 Sandra Rabier, 19 Manon André, 20 Jennyfer Troncy, 21 Aurore Sobolak, 22 Céline Heguy
Referee: Wayne Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Brian Ravenhill (Wales), Debbie Innes (England)
Scotland vs Ireland
It was a better performance by Scotland at Lasswade RFC in Edinburgh but again it was a big defeat as the Irish Women beat them 22-5.
The Scottish women held Ireland to 5-all for most of the game and it was only in the latter stages that the Irish raced to victory.
Scottish coach Karen Findlay said: "I was really pleased with the girls, there was a massive improvement in our defence and pattern. We got narrow on four occasions and that cost us dearly, in the end."
Scorers:
For Scotland:
Try: Lauren Harris
For Ireland:
Tries: Lynne Cantwell 2, Geraldine Rea, Niamh Briggs
Con: Niamh Briggs
Scotland: 15 Victoria Blakebrough, 14 Lauren Harris, 13 Annabel Sergeant, 12 Steph Johnston, 11 Katy Green, 10 Lisa Martin, 9 Louise Dalgliesh, 8 Susie Brown, 7 Ruth Slaven, 6 Charlotte Veale, 5 Lindsay Wheeler, 4 Rosalind
Murphy, 3 Tracey Balmer, 2 Lindsey Smith, 1 Heather Lockhart.
Replacements: 16 Alison Macdonald, 17 Beth Dickens, 18 Anna Swan, 19 Jemma Forsyth, 20 Tess Forsberg, 21 Laura Steven, 22 Lisa Ritchie
Ireland: 15 Niamh Briggs, 14 Niamh Kavanagh, 13 Lynne Cantwell, 12 Geraldine Rea, 11 Mairead Kelly, 10 Nora Stapleton, 9 Amy Davis, 8 Joy Neville, 7 Claire Molloy, 6 Laura Guest, 5 Heather O'Brien, 4 Marie Louise Reilly, 3 Emer McManamly, 2 Gillian Bourke, 1 Fiona Coghlan (captain).
Replacements: 16 Stacey Kennedy, 17 Lauren Day, 18 Deirdre O'Brien, 19 Carol Staunton, 20 Larissa Muldoon, 21 Gill Nolan, 22 Jackie Shiels.
Referee: Claire Daniels (England)
Assistant referees: Mhairi Hay (Scotland), Alex Pratt (Scotland)
Assessor: Charlie Adams (Scotland)
Italy vs Wales
On Sunday afternoon the Italian Women were too strong for Wales in La Spezia and won 12-8, thanks largely to determined defence.
At half-time Italy, who scored two tries to one, led 12-3.
Scorers:
For Italy:
Tries: Maria Diletta Veronese, Cioffi Maria Grazia
Con: Veronica Schiavon
For Wales:
Try: Kerin Lake
Pen: Amiee Young
Italy:15 Manuela Furlan, 14 Maria Diletta Veronese, 13 Maria Grazia Cioffi, 12 Aola Zangirolami (captain), 11 Chiara Castellarin , 10 Veronica Schiavon, 9 Sara Barattin, 8 Silvia Gaudino, 7 Giuliana Campanella, 6 Michela Este, 5 Sara Pettinelli, 4 Flavia Severin, 3 Lucia Gai, 2 Sara Zanon, 1 Elisa Cucchiella.
Replacements: 16 Silvia Peron, 17 Eleonora Vaghi, 18 Germana Raponi, 19 Alice Trevisan, 20 Giovanna Bado, 21 Michela Tondinelli, 22 Elisa Rochas
Wales: 15 Aimee Young, 14 Mared
Evans, 13 Adi Taviner, 12 Elen Evans (Dolgellau), 11 Kerin Lake, 10 Elinor Snowsill, 9 Laura Prosser, 8 Jamie Kift, 7 Sioned Harries, 6 Lisa Newton, 5 Shona Powell Hughes, 4 Ashley Rowlands, 3 Catrin Edwards, 2 Lowri Harries, 1 Jenny Davies.
Replacements: 16 Rhian Bowden, 17 Amy Lawrence, 18 Caryl Thomas, 19 Sian Williams, 20 Amy Day, 21 Yasmin Leung, 22 Caryl James.
Referee: Alan Campbell (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Monia Salvini (Italy), Barbara Guastini (Italy)