England Women warm up well
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:22
England Women warmed up for the inaugural Nations Cup with an impressive and powerful display against the USA at Esher Rugby Club on Tuesday evening, winning 50-3.
The reigning 6 Nations and European Champions, who will kick-off their Nations Cup campaign against the USA on Friday, also at Esher, ran in eight tries, including one for Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt on her debut. Vice-captain Katy McLean also kicked five conversions to secure the win.
The USA proved dogged opposition in the opening stages and kept England at bay until the eighth minute, and then the floodgates opened.
Lock Jo McGilchrist opened the home side’s account with a great try which started with Charlotte Barras making the break. Barras, playing out on the wing, off-loaded to Danielle Waterman, Amy Turner and Maggie Alphonsi before the ball was crossed to the left wing with flank Tamara Taylor setting-up McGilchrist who found space to score. McLean converted. 7-0.
Four minutes later and Staniford handed England a 12-0 lead. England showed great support to secure the try with all of England’s backs involved as well as the ever present Taylor. Centre Georgina Roberts was pulled down just short of the line, but Staniford picked up and ran in to score.
Lock Taylor was in the thick of the action again on 24 minutes when a superb break by Waterman, playing her first international at fullback, set Alphonsi loose. The Saracens flank looked set to score, but ankletap saw brought her to ground but Taylor was in support and muscled her way over the line. McLean converted to put England into a 19-0 lead.
Try number four came courtesy of Kim Oliver, returning to action after an injury lay-off, while Alphonsi rounded off the first-half for England after a well worked line-out saw the ball recycled across the field and Aphonsi diving over the line.
USA clawed back a penalty in the first-half thanks to flyhalf Kristen Baja but they had to settle for a 31-3 deficit at the break.
After the restart England called in the back-up and made six replacements. The changes didn't unsettle the hosts and Barras soon ran in for a try after a superb break and charge downfield.
Young centre Scarratt then underlined her potential with a try on her debut after a line-out saw the backs feed the ball out to the 18-year-old who found the attacking line and scored with ease. McLean converted making the score 43-3 and securing the victory for England.
England coach Gary Street said: “I'm really happy with this performance. We have got a lot to work on, but the style of rugby we want to play was very evident tonight.
“It’s really satisfying to score eight tries against a very physical side but we have got to make sure we are not blasé about this win as we look ahead to Friday’s Nations Cup game.
“Maggie Alphonsi had a tremendous game. She was very busy in the first-half and dominant, and it was great to see a player like Emily Scarratt score on her debut.”
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: McGilchrist, Staniford, Taylor, Oliver, Alphonsi, Barras, Scarratt, Turner
Cons: McLean 5
For the USA:
Pen: Baja
Teams
England: 15 Danielle Waterman (Clifton), 14 Charlotte Barras (Saracens), 13 Georgina Roberts (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 12 Kim Oliver (Clifton), 11 Michaela Staniford (Wasps), 10 Katy McLean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 9 Amy Turner ( Richmond), 8 Catherine Spencer (captain) (Bath), 7 Margaret Alphonsi (Saracens), 6 Sarah Beale (Leos), 5 Joanna McGilchrist (Wasps), 4 Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 3 Katy Storie (Blaydon Team Northumbria), 2 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 1 Rochelle Clark (Henley)
Replacements: 16 Emma
Layland (Richmond), 17 Sophie Hemming (Clifton), 18 Natalie Binstead (Wasps), 19 Gemma Sharples (Worcester), 20 Georgina Rozario (Plymouth Albion), 21 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield), 22 Francesca Matthews (Richmond)
USA: 15 Ashley Kmiecik (Seattle Mudhens),14 Vanesha McGee (Philadelphia), 13 Emilie Bydwell (Beantown), 12 Elise Myer (Maryland Stingers), 11 Desiree Markovich (Minnesota Valkyries), 10 Kristin Baja (New York), 9 Katy Hertel (MN Valkyries), 8 Blair Groefsema (Berkeley All Blues), 7 Mel Denham (Beantown), 6 Liz Dilley (captain) (DC Furies), 5 Jillion Potter (Minnesota Valkyries), 4 Beckett Royce (ORSU), 3 Stacy Baker (Philadelphia), 2 Lisa Butts (Davis Women), 1 Jamie Burke (At-Large)
Replacements: 16 Farrah Douglas (Chicago North Shore), 17 Lara Vivolo (New York), 18 Sarah Walsh (Chicago North Shore), 19 Christina Hobson (New York), 20 Katy Hertel (Minnesota Valkyries), 21 Mel Kanuk (Maryland Stingers), 22 Nathalie
Marchino
Referee: Joyce Henry (Canada)
Touch judges: Andrea Ttofa, Claire Hodnett
Match Schedule:
22 August: England vs USA at Esher RFC Nations Cup
24 August: England vs Canada at Esher RFC Nations Cup
26 August: USA vs Canada at Esher RFC Nations Cup
29 August: England vs Canada at Esher RFC
