England Women make strong start with convincing Scotland win
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Twin sisters Bryony and Poppy Cleall scored a try each as England made an impressive start to their Women’s Six Nations title defence with a comfortable 52-10 win against Scotland.
What a performance from Poppy! 🤩
Congratulations on winning the #WomensSixNations Player Of The Match! 👏 pic.twitter.com/9ym0FScVMA— Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 3, 2021
The defending champions ran in eight tries in Doncaster and had a bonus point sewn up by half-time in a ruthless display against their Pool A rivals.
TRY for Scotland! Centre Hannah Smith goes over after relentless pressure on the England line for Scotland's first! #WomensSixNations pic.twitter.com/90d7dMPed8
— Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 3, 2021
Marlie Packer scored the first try of the 2021 Championship in the 10th minute, while Leanne Riley, Lark Davies, Bryony Cleall and Jess Breach also crossed before half-time.
Helena Rowland added a sixth before Scotland scored their first try of the Championship through Hannah Smith after the break.
But a red card to Molly Wright gave England the upper hand late on and No.8 Poppy Cleall powered over before a late penalty try wrapped up the win.
Carries from Zoe Aldcroft and Poppy Cleall took England within five metres of the Scotland line but an overcooked cross-field kick from Rowland meant they left without points.
Scotland more than held their own in the opening ten minutes but England broke through when Packer dived over from close range after some neat hands from Cleall and her twin sister Bryony.
The champions added their second midway through the first half, when scrum-half Riley picked her way through a crowd with some excellent footwork.
Scotland got on the board in the 23rd minute as they converted their first visit to the 22 into three points, courtesy of Helen Nelson’s penalty, but England responded quickly with a try from a driving maul, finished off by Davies.
As the half progressed, the champions’ confidence increased and they started to move the ball quicker and pop more offloads.
Bryony Cleall – back in the England set-up two years on from her last cap – secured the bonus point by finishing off a move that included a brilliant offload from her twin sister Poppy.
And winger Breach added a fifth just before half-time, as she collected a Rowland cross-field kick, beat a couple of tackles and sprinted under the posts.
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