Ireland Women 7-51 England Women: Red Roses off to a winning start
Last Updated: 03/02/19 1:43pm
England got off to a flying start in the Women's Six Nations with a resounding 51-7 win over Ireland in Donnybrook.
The Red Roses scored eight tries to one as they put down a real statement of intent with a convincing win.
Ireland were full of running rugby themselves but could not handle England's aggressive rush defence that halted any attack at source.
First-half scores from Jess Breach and Sarah McKenna were added to by Sarah Bern, Lark Davies, Katy Daley-Mclean, Zoe Harrison, Emily Scott and Bryony Cleall in the second 40 minutes as the Red Roses ran out comfortable winners.
England's only concern would be their scrum which came under immense pressure from Ireland and resulted in a penalty try against them.
The Red Roses soaked up some early pressure from their hosts before launching their first meaningful attack with winger Breach seeing off two defenders to score in the corner after five minutes.
Daley-Mclean slotted a penalty to extend the lead and then pulled off a superbly weighted grubber that allowed McKenna to race through and dot down, as the Red Roses held a 13-0 lead at half-time.
Bern's powerful burst from Poppy Cleall's offload saw her score, before Davies scored from a driving maul off the back of a lineout as England secured the bonus-point.
Daley-Mclean, who had a 16-point haul on the night, then sniped over before Ireland got their only points when a powerful scrum resulted in a penalty try.
Harrison finished off some excellent offloading with a clever dummy, Scott rounded off a flowing move out on the left wing before debutant Bryony Cleall got England's eighth and final score of the night as she powered over from close range.
In the other games Scotland suffered defeat in their opener as Italy triumphed 28-7 in Glasgow, while defending champions France showed their class with a 52-3 win over Wales.
