England Women carry on winning
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:34
England completed their summer campaign of internationals against Canada and America with a 24-0 victory over Canada on Friday night at Esher RFC.
England ran in four tries with Katy Storie, Karen Jones, Catherine Spencer and Michaela Staniford all claiming touchdowns. No.8 Jones was at the heart of the action and her impressive work-rate was crucial to England’s success, while 18-year-old wing Fran Matthews underlined what she could potentially have to offer England with a superb display.
The victory hands England a Grand Slam of wins this season, which also includes the Six Nations, the European Cup and the Nations Cup titles.
England coach Gary Street said: “I'm very happy, the real success of the tournament has been the attitude and determination of the whole squad under challenging schedule of four games in 10 days and their ability to rise to the challenge when it mattered. Tonight was a victory for the whole squad, and once again our termination not to let the opposition score was outstanding.
“This gives us a great base looking forward to our autumn internationals against Italy and Ireland and then the Six Nations in February. Considering we are still in pre-season we are looking very healthy for the forthcoming season.”
England applied the pressure early on and although Canada held firm, prop Storie was soon celebrating her first ever try for England after 13 minutes.
It was a try England had worked hard for and it came good after scrumhalf Amy Turner took a quick tap penalty deep in Canada’s territory. Flank Sarah Beale carried the ball well and with several players taking on the attack, prop Sam Dale executed a perfect offload to set Storie up for the try in the right corner. Flyhalf Katy McLean stroked over the conversion.
Ten minutes later and England made it 12-0 heading into the break. Again the forwards were at the heart of the action and a well controlled scrum saw match day skipper Karen Jones pick-up and muscle her way over the line, handing England the 12-point cushion at the break.
Canada did not give up and after the restart their defence held firm until the 56th minute when substitute Catherine Spencer pushed her way over the line after another good England scrum. McLean again converted.
Michaela Staniford then continued her impressive scoring streak with her fourth try of the August internationals to round off proceedings for England. The score was a great team effort which saw the ball moved through the forwards and the backs. Lock Tamara Taylor went close, but England were superb in support and moved the ball out to the right wing where Staniford came in, making the final score 24-0.
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: Storie, Jones, Spencer, Staniford
Cons: McLean 2
Teams:
England: 15 Danielle Waterman, 14 Kat Merchant, 12 Kim Oliver, 11 Fran Matthews, 10 Katy McLean, 9 Amy Turner, 8 Karen Jones, 7 Maggie Alphonsi, 6 Sarah Beale, 5 Tamara Taylor, 4 Jo McGilchrist, 3 Emily Scarratt, 3 Katy Storie, 2 Samantha Dale, 1 Sophie Hemming,
Replacements: 16 Amy Garnett, 17 Rochelle Clark, 18 Catherine Spencer, 19 Gemma Sharples, 20 Georgina Rozario, 21 Alice Richardson, 22 Michaela Staniford.
Canada: 15 Ashley Patzer, 14 Meghan Mutrie, 13 Mandy Marchak, 12 Brooke Hilditch, 11 Maria Gallo, 10 Anna Schnell, 9 Julia Sugawara, 8 Katie Murray, 7 Barbara Mervin , 6 Heather Jaques, 5 Marie-Eve Brindamour-Carignan, 4 Megan Gibbs, 3 Heather Mcdonald, 2 Kim Donaldson, 1 Leslie Cripps,
Replacements: 16 Lesley Mckeie, 17 Nicole Tyminski, 18 Kelly Russell , 19 Gillian Florence, 20 Jennifer Kish, 21 Julianne Zussman , 22 Cheryl Phillips
Referee:
Gareth Hodges
Touch judges: Andrea Ttofa & Claire Daniels
