England Women made a memorable start to their FIRA-AER European Cup campaign with a 61-0 rout of Spain in Italy.
Spain blown away in European Cup opener
England Women made a memorable start to their FIRA-AER European Cup campaign with a 61-0 rout of Spain in Italy.
Despite fielding a new-look side - with a total of six players in the match-day squad making their debuts - England were simply too strong as they carried on their impressive form from the Six Nations.
Lydia Thompson and Ruth Laybourn marked their debuts with hat-tricks, while fellow new caps Sally Tuson and Lauren Cattell scored a try apiece.
Kim Oliver, Marlie Packer and skipper Sarah Hunter also crossed as racked up 11 tries in Rovereto.
Head coach Graham Smith said: "This was a really pleasing result. Considering the young players we have brought to Italy, with six of them making their debuts today, we were honestly unsure about how we would fair. However, the players have come together so well and played like a team who have been together for some time.
Impression
"All our new caps were impressive. They had a nervous start but soon got into it and made a real impression. Lydia, Ruth, Sally and Lauren all scored on their debuts, which is no mean feat, while Kate Newton was immense in the pack.
"Fiona Davidson also made an impression when she came on. Our established players also really stepped up, while it was great to see Danielle Waterman, back at her best again, despite this being her first game back in five months.
"Spain were a big and powerful side and they ran hard at us. They didn't have many opportunities and that was because our scrummage functioned so well and we were able to constantly get good ball out to our backs.
"This is a great start to the tournament, and we are now looking forward to our next game against Italy on Tuesday."
