England Women 88-10 Ireland: Red Roses post demolition victory in front of 49,000 at Twickenham
England's Red Roses scored 14 tries in monumental destruction of Ireland at Twickenham in the Women's Six Nations; Abby Dow (hat-trick), Natasha Hunt, Meg Jones (two), Zoe Aldcroft, Ellie Kildunne (hat-trick), Jess Breach (two), Sadia Kabeya, Maddie Feaunati each got over the try-line
Last Updated: 23/04/24 11:09pm
A rampant Red Roses put Ireland to the sword in Round 4 of the Women's Six Nations at Twickenham, scoring 14 tries in a 88-10 demolition in front of nearly 49,000 fans.
An outstanding first-half performance saw the Red Roses score six tries - four of them inside the opening 20 minutes - through wing Abby Dow (two), scrum-half Natasha Hunt, centre Meg Jones, lock Zoe Aldcroft and full-back Ellie Kildunne.
Left wing Jess Breach and blindside flanker Sadia Kabeya scored early second-half tries for England, with Jones grabbing her second after Ireland had forced a penalty try and Lucy Packer sin-binning (maul collapse).
Red Roses 88-10 Ireland - Score summary
Red Roses - Tries: Dow (7, 37, 64), Hunt (10), Jones (13, 58), Aldcroft (19), Kildunne (28, 68, 75), Breach (44, 72), Kabeya (49), Feaunati (77). Cons: Aitchison (11, 14, 20, 29, 49, 59, 65, 70, 73).
Ireland - Tries: Penalty Try (56). Pens: O'Brien (24).
There remained time for Dow to complete her hat-trick, Kildunne to grab a hat-trick of her own, Breach to score again, and replacement back-row Maddie Feaunati to score on her debut.
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England hit the front as early as the seventh minute, as Dow scored a try she had no right to based on the sheer amount of Ireland defenders in her way near the touchline. Yet, the 26-year-old showed pace and power to sprint forward in little space to score a superb opening try.
Within three minutes, the Red Roses had a second as scrum-half Hunt made a brilliant break from deep, and though she offloaded and hooker Lark Atkin-Davies spilled backwards, the former was soon able to snipe over and score.
Within another three minutes, England outside-centre Jones dummied and reached to score on the line, before Aldcroft charged through under the posts for the Red Roses' fourth try in the 19th minute.
Outstanding full-back Kildunne got in on the act in the 27th minute, finishing off a flowing passing move through the backs after a rolling maul had made great yardage just prior.
Dow had a second try ruled out shortly after, knocking on in an attempt to ground in the corner, but shrugged it off to cross again before half-time untouched in the same corner when played in by Kildunne.
Four minutes into the second half, pacy wing Breach got in on the act as she displayed lightning speed down the left. Five minutes later, Kabeya scored England's eighth as a TMO review proved she grounded on the try-line before the ball was held-up after being grounded.
That score and Holly Aitchison's conversion brought up 50 points for the hosts, but Ireland hit back after winning a scrum penalty against the head, kicking to the corner and mauling forward well before England replacement scrum-half Packer collapsed the maul, conceding a penalty try and yellow card.
England responded almost immediately, as Jones powered through for her second try, before Dow completed her hat-trick with more sensational pace and power in her running down the right wing.
Kildunne notched her second as a lovely backs move saw replacement Emily Scarratt throw a gorgeous offload to create space, putting England past 70 points.
Breach scored her second when a deflected Aitchison kick landed perfectly for the wing, before Kildunne secured her hat-trick with five minutes to play, as an exhausted Ireland had nothing left to plug any gaps.
The Red Roses continued to keep the ball alive as Feaunati dived over with three minutes left, but Aitchison's conversion slipped wide, leaving England one point short of a record victory over Ireland.
It mattered not on an immensely impressive day for John Mitchell's Red Roses.
Kildunne: We put on a show! | Bemand: We'll take our learnings
Player of the match Ellie Kildunne told BBC Sport...
"We're so happy to play in front of this amount of crowd at a home stadium and we put on a show!
"No discredit to Ireland but we really turned it on when we needed to, it became running rugby, everyone knew their role and it was enjoyable.
"We talk a lot about taking the hand break off and it feeds confidence. We keep trying new things and good things happen from it.
"We don't think too far head, we need to take in what happened with 49,000 fans coming to watch, it's been incredible."
Ireland Scott Bemand told BBC Sport...
"The Irish girls are quite young and coming into an occasion like this, the girls have to learn to handle it. We probably looked a bit young out there.
"We're taking steps to where we want to get do. It won't happen overnight.
"The girls were a bit rocked in terms of energy. Technically and tactically, it was what it was.
"We'll take our learnings from this. There's a big game coming next week so we go again."
What's next?
England finish their campaign by travelling to face France in Bordeaux next Saturday April 27 in what is likely to be a Grand Slam-decider for both sides (4.45pm kick-off).
For Ireland, they host Scotland next Saturday April 27 in Belfast, looking for a second win of the campaign (2.30pm kick-off).
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