Playing in the shadow of Twickenham just hours before the England and Welsh men headed into battle, there was always going to be a sense that the corresponding women’s fixture was going to fade into the background as an opening act.
However, by scoring eight unanswered tries, the England Women laid down a strong marker in their Grand Slam defence and for the strength of their talent pool as young players such Ellie Kildunne and Abigail Dow continue to impress at Test level.
For all their ruthlessness and savvy, the question will still remain regarding the competitiveness of international women’s rugby. Despite the timid display from a young Welsh side who looked rattled after just two minutes when outside-centre Kerin Lake had to leave the field injured, the crowd of just over 4,000 was a good showing for women’s rugby.
The Red Roses had a royal fan present in Prince Harry, whose support and profile is another boost for the women’s game. After a sluggish start in their NatWest Six Nations opener against Italy in which they were being held 7-7 at half-time before running away to a 42-7 win, Simon Middleton’s charges tore into the Welsh, sealing a bonus point by the 29th minute.
Poppy Cleall, who put in another player-of-the-match performance after a bombastic display against the Italians, led the charge with a try after just eight minutes. The Welsh struggled out wide with their rejigged back-line and that allowed Dow to slip in from the wing to score her seventh Test try in just four appearances.
Her score was quickly followed by one from sniping scrum-half Leanne Riley. Kildunne, 18, who made her England debut in the same game as Dow made her bow against Canada in November, scored the first of her two tries just before the half-hour mark.
or such a commanding performance from his side and the contribution of the younger generation, with Charlotte Pearce, 24, making her second appearance for England and first start on the wing, Middleton was holding back the praise and showing the same ruthless streak he has cultivated in his side.
“Some of our decision-making, the outside-backs, the young ones, they just want to play, they want to pass, they want to keep the ball moving and at times you just have to carry hard and create a platform,” he said. “We gave up quite a bit of ball on the edges where, on another day and with a few learnings, they’ll stick and we can recycle and go again.”
Ahead of the game, captain and No 8 Sarah Hunter had called for the side to show a more confrontational streak and that was evident as Wales barely left their own half with negligible attacking opportunities.
This was an aspect of the game Middleton was pleased with as he had targeted it as the area for improvement after the World Cup final defeat against New Zealand. “We talked about it after the World Cup, how we want to get off the line and attack the breakdown more. We needed more edge about our game,” he said.
“We did it really well against Canada in the autumn series and then, against Italy, we were just a bit passive. We wanted to get off the line and defend, we wanted to hit hard and get double people into tackles and attack the ruck, which we did really well. The amount of times we counter-rucked them off the ball. When they give us a chink of light we just fired through.”
Wales head coach Rowland Phillips bemoaned his side’s lack of confidence. “The biggest thing we have to learn is to believe, because England were playing some multi-phase stuff,” he said. “When we actually believed in our structures and our ability, we managed. At times we looked all right, but then it was like we stopped believing and we didn’t look so good.”
Second-half tries came from open side Marlie Packer, inside centre Rachael Burford and a second from Cleall. Kildunne, looking menacing at outside centre, rounded off the scoring with a stunning arcing run from close to the half way line where she managed to slip past a number of Welsh defenders.