Rampant Red Roses beat Ireland at Twickenham
Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne scored hat-tricks as England beat Ireland 88-10 to keep their Grand Slam bid on course.
Natasha Hunt, Megan Jones (2), Zoe Aldcroft, Jess Breach (2), Sadia Kabeya and Maddie Feaunati also crossed as a bumper Twickenham crowd were treated to a superb display.
John Mitchell’s side have now won 28 consecutive Six Nations matches and travel to Bordeaux next Saturday to face France with the title on the line – though the defence of the Red Roses’ crown will be secure on Sunday if Wales beat France.
England were straight into their groove against Ireland and needed less than seven minutes to open the scoring, Dow finding space in a tight corner on the right to evade several tackles and open the scoring.
A trademark Hunt break into the Irish 22 started the hosts’ next attack and the scrum-half was later on hand to finish off the move she had started, sniping over from close range with Holly Aitchison adding the extras.
Meg Jones hit an unstoppable line for the Red Roses’ third and Zoe Aldcroft ensured the bonus point was in the bag inside the first quarter by charging over from 40 metres out following a devastating break.
There was no let-up from the home side and Kildunne soon crossed after quick hands deep inside visiting territory.
Kildunne turned provider four minutes before the break, sending Dow free in the corner for her second of the afternoon shortly after the wing had seen a score disallowed for spilling the ball when grounding.
A similar fate befell Jones, who saw her effort ruled out for a forward pass with the last action of a first half which saw England beat 37 defenders from their 86 carries, Kildunne leading the charge by beating 12 defenders and making 158 metres, according to statistics from The Match Centre.
Mitchell’s side started the second half as they had ended the first and were straight on the front foot, Breach sprinting clear down the left touchline to add her name to the scoresheet on 43 minutes.
Sadia Kabeya powered over to take England past the half century mark and though Ireland responded with a penalty try which saw Lucy Packer sent to the sin-bin, Jones quickly added her second try while the hosts were a player light.
Dow’s hat-trick score was England at their ruthless best, as an Ireland overthrow at the lineout inside the home side’s 22 was swiftly put through the hands for the wing to streak clear and dot down on the right.
England’s back three remained in irresistible mood and after Breach latched on to an Aitchison grubber kick for her second, Kildunne finished off a neat training ground move to complete her hat-trick.
There was still time for Maddie Feaunati to score her first Red Roses try late on and put the seal on a complete performance which delighted the 48,778 in attendance.
Teams
England
15 Ellie Kildunne, 14 Abby Dow, 13 Megan Jones, 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Jess Breach, 10 Holly Aitchison, 9 Natasha Hunt; 1 Hannah Botterman, 2 Lark Atkin-Davies, 3 Maud Muir, 4 Zoe Aldcroft, 5 Rosie Galligan, 6 Sadia Kabeya, 7 Marlie Packer, 8 Alex Matthews
Replacements
16 Connie Powell, 17 Mackenzie Carson, 18 Kelsey Clifford, 19 Morwenna Talling, 20 Maddie Feaunati, 21 Lucy Packer, 22 Emily Scarratt, 23 Sydney Gregson
Ireland
15 Lauren Delany, 14 Katie Corrigan, 13 Eve Higgins, 12 Aoife Dalton, 11 Béibhinn Parsons, 10 Dannah O'Brien, 9 Aoibheann Reilly; 1 Linda Djougang, 2 Neve Jones, 3 Christy Haney, 4 Dorothy Wall, 5 Hannah O’Connor, 6 Aoife Wafer, 7 Edel McMahon (c), 8 Brittany Hogan.
Replacements
16 Clíodhna Moloney, 17 Niamh O'Dowd, 18 Sadhbh McGrath, 19 Fiona Tuite, 20 Shannon Ikahihifo, 21 Molly Scuffil-McCabe, 22 Enya Breen, 23 Meabh Deely.
