Wrap: Women's Six Nations
Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:58
England were the best - far and away the best - as they recorded their third successive Grand Slam.
England are now clearly the only country likely to be able to challenge New Zealand for top spot in the Women's rugby world.
England's last match was their closest.
While England grew stronger, Scotland have grown weaker. Once one of the top five in the world, they did not win a match in the Six Nations.
England coach Gary Street said: “It’s a great feeling to win the Grand Slam again. This title is a testament to the hard work of the players on and off the field.
“We would have liked to put in a better performance today but really today is all about the performance of this team throughout the championship. The real success story has been the bonding of this squad, from a new coaching team to a relatively new and young squad. We clearly have a very strong squad with a lot of depth and that is going to stand us in very good stead for the future.”
Results in Six Nations, 2008
Round 1
England vs Wales, 55-0
France vs Scotland, 43-15 in Scotland
Ireland vs Italy, 19-0
Round 2
England vs Italy, 76-6 in Italy
France vs Ireland, 26-17
Wales vs Scotland, 23-6
Round 3
England vs France, 31-0 in France
Ireland vs Scotland, 13-3
Wales vs Italy, 27-5
Round 4
England vs Scotland, 34-5 in Scotland
France vs Italy. 35-6
Wales vs Ireland, 19-10 in Wales
Round 5
England vs Ireland, 17-7
Italy vs Scotland, 31-10
Wales vs France, 3-0
Final Standings
1. England
2. Wales
3. France
4. Ireland
5. Italy
6. Scotland
Match Reports
England vs Ireland, 17-7
For the third year in a row England Women won the Grand Slam in the Six Nations Championship, but of the five match this was much the hardest and the closest.
They scored early in the first minute when Claire Allan went over for her sixth try of the Six Nations. The score came following a scrum in Ireland’s 22 with Richmond’s scrum-half Amy Turner popping the ball up to Claire Allan who scored under the posts. Flyhalf Katy McLean converted to hand England a 7-0 lead.
Just seven minutes later and McLean had another chance at goal with a penalty and she was successful, though a missed kick at goal on 20 minutes left England having to settle for a 10-0 lead at half-time.
After the restart Ireland continued to keep England at bay with some fierce defending. They too were aggressive at the breakdown, stopping England from getting their consistency going while the home side made the win hard work for themselves too.
On 70 minutes Leos forward Sarah Beale broke the deadlock after England drove forward in Ireland’s 22 and Beale managed to break away and score. This time Richardson added the conversion to hand England the 17-0 lead.
Ireland refused to give up though and their gritty determination in the dying minutes of the game paid off when they were handed a line-out five metres out from England’s line. They executed the line-out well and drove over with replacement Yvonne Nolan claiming the spoils. Grace Davitt converted to make the final score 17-7.
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: Claire Allan, Sarah Beale
Cons: Katy McLean, Alice Richardson
Pen: Katy McLean
For Ireland:
Try: Yvonne Nolan
Con: Grace Davitt
England: 15 Charlotte Barras , 14 Michaela Staniford, 13 Claire Allan, 12 Rachael Burford , 11 Danielle Waterman, 10 Katy McLean, 9 Amy Turner, 8 Catherine Spencer (captain), 7 Margaret Alphonsi, 6 Sarah Hunter, 5 Joanna McGilchrist, 4 Tamara Taylor, 3 Katy Storie, 2 Amy Garnett, 1 Rochelle Clark
Replacements: 16 Emma Layland, 17 Sophie Hemming, 18 Sarah Beale, 19 Karen
Jones, 20 Alice Richardson, 21 Katherine Merchant, 22 Victoria Massarella
Ireland: 15 Sarahjane Belton (captain), 14 Lynne Cantwell, 13 Patrique Kelly, 12 Shannon Houston, 11 Grace Davitt, 10 Joanne O'Sullivan, 9 Tania Rosser, 8 Joy Neville, 7 Orla Brennan, 6 Eimear O'Sullivan, 5 Germaine Healy, 4 Caroline Mahon, 3 Jess Limbert, 2 Marie Barrett, 1 Fiona Coghlan
Replacements: 16 Gillian Bourke, 17 Yvonne Nolan, 18 Sinead Ryan, 19 Louise Austin, 20 Louise Beamish, 21 Niamh Briggs, 22 Amy Davis.
Referee: Andrew Healy (Scotland)
Touch judges: Paul Burton (England), Chris Challinor (England)
Italy vs Scotland, 31-10
Some 3000 spectators saw this historic win for Italy at Mira, their first win ever in the Six Nations.
Scotland actually scored first when wing Cara D'Silva raced over for a try early in the first half. But the determined Italians then took over. They dominated the scrums and the line-outs and beating the Scots to the loose ball was a large part of their success and by half-time Italy led 20-5.
Veronica Schiavon was the outstanding player for the winners, score 21 points in all while lock Flavia Severin had a stormer, weighing in with two tries..
Scorers:
For Italy:
Tries: Veronica Schiavon, Flavia Severin 2
Cons: Veronica Schiavon
Pens: Veronica Schiavon 3
For Scotland:
Tries: Cara D'Silva, Jilly McCord
Italy: 15 Valentina Schiavon, 14 Giulia Bratusc, 13 Paola Zangirolami, 12 Giovanna Bado, 11 Silvia Pizzati, 10 Veronica Schiavon, 9 Elisa Facchini, 8 Silvia Gaudino, 7 Sara Pettinelli, 6 Giuliana Campanella, 5 Flavia Severin, 4 Martina Barbini, 3 Elisa Cucchiella, 2 Licia Stefan,1 Cristina Sanfilippo
Replacements: 16 Veronica Ceradini, 17 Alessandra Mestriner, 18 Lara Fabbri, 19 Daniela Gini, 20 Anna Mariani, 21 Elisa Rochas, 22 Michela Tondinelli
Scotland: 15 Lynsey Douglas, 14 Cara D'Silva, 13 Veronica
Fitzpatrick, 12 Suzi Newton, 11 Tanya Griffith, 10 Erin Kerr, 9 Sarah Gill, 8 Heather Lockhart , 7 Sarah-Louise Walzer, 6 Jilly McCord , 5 Lana Blyth , 4 Lindsay Wheeler, 3 Louise Moffat, 2 Lynne Reid, 1 Sonia Cull
Repl;acements: 16 Keri Holdsworth, 17 Beth Dickens, 18 Mary Lafaiki, 19 Joan Hutchinson, 20 Louise Dalgliesh, 21 Julie Sanaghan, 22 Laura Steven
Referee: Christine Bigaran (France)
Touch judges: Stefano Traversi (Italy), Andrea Pasquin (Italy)
Assessor: Giannino Capellozza (Italy
Wales vs France, 3-0
The field was a bog at Taffs Well and the only score a penalty goal by Rachel Poolman who later in the match suffered a broken leg.
It was the Welsh pack that mastered the mud and the French to set up the win.
Wing Louise Rickard played her 100th match for Wales.
Scorer:
For Wales:
Pen: Rachel Poolman
Wales 15 Non Evans, 14 Louise Rickard, 13 Naomi Thomas, 12 Clare Flowers, 11
Hayley Baxter, 10 Rachel Poolman, 9 Amy Day, 8 Mel Berry (captain), 7 Jamie Kift, 6 Catrina Nicholas, 5 Claire Donovan, 4 Rachel Taylor, 3 Claire Horgan, 2 Rhian Bowden, 1 Louise Horgan
Replacements: 16 Natalie Bowen, 17 Ruth Evans, 18 Nicola Evans, 19 Jenny Doyle, 20 Laura Prosser, 21 Bethan Walsh, 22 Michaela Reed
France: 15 Caroline Ladagnous, 14 Céline Allainmat, 13 Sandrine Agricole, 12 Lucille Godiveau, 11 Marie Bourret, 10 Estelle Sartini (captain), 9 Jennifer Troncy, 8 Delphine Plantet, 7 Sandra Rabier, 6 Célia Rigout, 5 Cyrielle Bouisset, 4 Mélanie Gauffinet, 3 Céline Barthélemy, 2 Laetitia Salles, 1 Nadège Labbey
Replacements: 16 Clémence Ollivier, 17 Chobet, 18 Charlotte Hebel, 19 Amandine Vaupre, 20 Anaïs Lagougine, 21 Aurélie Bailon, 22 Marie Alice Yahé
Referee: Jonathan Peake (Ireland)
Nomads vs England A, 24-15
England A 15 Nomads 24
The strong Nomads team who had beaten England A by a similar margin in February, won again at London Irish in Sunbury as a curtainraiser to the match between England and Ireland.
Once again the Nomads were at full strength with a side that boasted 892 international caps amongst them and 11 players who had all captained their country.
England actually scored first an early try by Shelley Rae, but after that the Nomads took over and led 19-8 at the break.
The second half was much the same when lock Natalie Binstead scored a try.
Scorers:
For Nomads:
Tries: Millard, Appleby, Kennedy 2
Cons: Andrew 2
For Enngland A
Tries: Rae, Binstead
Con: Rae
Pen: Rae
England A: 15 Vicki Jackson (Lichfield), 14 Francesca Matthews (Richmond), 13 Georgina Roberts (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 12 Charlotte Boggis (Exeter University), 11 Fiona Pocock (Richmond), 10 Shelley Rae (Wasps), 9 Sarah Guest
(Worcester), 8 Sonia Green (Saracens), 7 Jane Leonard (Wasps/Army), 6 Gemma Sharples (Worcester), 4 Sara Anastasi (Richmond), 5 Natalie Binstead (Wasps), 3 Rosemarie Crowley (Lichfield), 2 Samantha Dale (Worcester), 1 Claire Purdy (Wasps) (captain)\
Replacements: 16 Samantha Jamieson (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 17 Monica Lewinska (Clifton), 18 Alexandra Stevens (Lichfield), 19 Lois Moulding (Lichfield), 20 Karina Page (Old Albanian Saints), 21 Tina Lee (Clifton), 22 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield)
Nomads: 15 Lucy Millard (Scotland), 14 Sarah Marsh (England), 13 Rimma Pettlevania (Scotland), 12 Sarah Ulmer (Canada), 11Sue Day (England), 10 Karen Andrew (England), 9 Joanne Yapp (England), 8 Donna Kennedy (Scotland), 7 Helen Clayton (England), 6 Georgia Stevens (England), 5 Jenny Lynne (England), 4 Mara Moberg (Netherlands), 3 Vanessa Gray (England), 2 Ann O'Flynn (England), 1 Leslie Cripps
(captain) (Canada),
Replacements: 16 Maxine Edwards (England), 17 Phillipa Crews (England A), 18 Eryka Wessell (Ireland), 19 Lauran Englebretsen (New Zealand), 20 Susie Appleby (England), 21 Assunta de Biase (England), 22 Nicky Milne (Ireland).
Referee: Claire Hodnett
