In front of a sold-out, noisy and atmospheric LNER Community Stadium, the Red Roses kicked off their Six Nations campaign.
This match will be seen as a test ahead of the six fixtures York will be hosting in the upcoming World Cup, and to be expected there were teething issues. This is the biggest fixture York has ever hosted. LNER Community Stadium is only really accessible for supporters by car or by the Park and Ride Bus, and the two roads connecting Monks Cross were completely jammed, an issue that will need to be addressed ahead of the World Cup.
Led by the captain, Scarborough’s own Zoe Aldcroft, the Red Roses received the ball after Italy’s stalwart inside centre Beatrice Rigioni kicked off the match. The Italians tried to play wide early but composed defence forced the women in blue back, forcing a knock-on and a scrum to England just inside the opposition’s 22. An early mistake forced England back, but there was no panic, a nice flat pass from Emily Scarratt stressed the Italians on the right wing before a foreboding sense of inevitability led to Gloucester’s Mia Venner (winning her first cap in five years) dotting down on the left. Her club teammate Emma Sing, with kicking duties at fullback, converted well, given the windy conditions. That sense of inevitability quickly led to another score on the right wing. The Lightning connection of Loughborough’s Helena Rowland and Emily Scaratt, with a domineering platform laid by the forwards in the scrum, gave England acres more space. Venner looked like she was in for a second, safe for a great tap tackle. England recycled well and veteran Emily Scaratt powered over quickly for England’s second.
Italy just could not get any momentum into the game, England had multiple ways of suffocating Italy or getting the ball for themselves. As the first half wore on, Italy had moments of relieving pressure, only to put themselves back under it with ill-discipline or a misfiring set-piece. Although, at one point, it felt like the scoreline was going to look ridiculous inside the first ten minutes, but breakdown penalties and held-up balls over the try line gave Italy a sense of reprieve. After a blistering start, England suddenly looked rusty, and Italy’s box-kicking and lineout improved. Yet, England’s scrum dominance was cutthroat, and Italy’s scrumhalf Sofia Stefan threw a ball into touch, and from the lineout Rosie Galligan thought she had scored England’s ball. The TMO however noticed the second row had lost control of the ball dotting down because of illegal pressure from Laura Gurioli which saw a penalty try awarded and the Italian hooker binned for ten minutes.
It took a while for England to make the extra woman count, but a fantastic cross-field kick from Holly Aitchison was gathered by Claudia MacDonald who stepped inside the scrambling Italian defence to get England’s bonus point just shy of thirty minutes. Another Italian breakdown penalty gave the Azzurri an opportunity for their first attack in England’s own 22. More English indiscipline at the breakdown gave the Italians another lineout opportunity, who were now back to the full complement. Italy had not scored a try against England in the Six Nations for two years, and the maul was wonderfully worked for number 8 Francesca Sgorbini to be shoved over the line.
A superb regather from Claudia MacDonald gave the Red Roses immediate possession of the kick-off. England thought they had scored through Maddie Feaunati, the TMO however notified referee Precious Pazani that Feaunati had knocked the ball under pressure from Italy’s right winger Aura Muzzo. England attacked again but Mia Venner was dismissed into touch by Muzzo. An overthrow at the lineout though was gift-wrapped to England’s Amy Cokayne, Sing converted. And that brought matters to a close at the referee’s whistle for halftime.
Half-Time: 33-5 to the Red Roses
At the start of the second half, it was all Italy. Sale Sharks’ Beatrice Rigioni, a taliswoman and a jack-in-the-box player for both club and country, kicked long from a penalty with a good touch-finder and Italy looked like they were going to score on the left but were held up. Rowland kicked out straight on the full though from the goal-line dropout, giving Italy a lineout five metres out. Another well-worked lineout led to successive pick and goes, giving a second try to number 8 Francesca Sgorbini. Or so they thought: a very late TMO intervention just before the restart struck off the try for obstruction at the lineout. Referee Pazani was certainly getting her running metres in by frequently jogging to the other end of the pitch for the stadium’s only big screen (something else worth considering for World Rugby and the World Cup organisers ahead of August).
The Italians were able to keep up the pressure but were unable to convert, despite Italy’s replacement second rower Sara Tounesi bringing considerable umph off the bench. England then unleashed the likes of Hannah Botterman and Sarah Bern off the bench, a ridiculous scrummaging unit and another indication of the ridiculous depth of the Red Roses. It was Bern with a penalty turnover at the breakdown that gave England their first real opportunity to launch an attack into the Italian’s half. This attack led to nought as Feaunati fumbled another opportunity to score a try as she was bundled into touch. A subsequent side entry penalty gave another reprieve to Italy.
Italy’s coaches will be disappointed that their lineout did not function as well as it could have, because when it did click, the Red Roses were under pressure, and Italy’s breakdown tenacity gave them opportunities to gain entries into England’s half. England still were not firing on full cylinders, which would not have pleased Red Roses’ head coach John Mitchell. However, he would prefer issues to arise in round one rather than against France in the final round of the Championship.
As the second half wore on, it felt like a strange match, Italy not quite good enough to put England under significant pressure but the Red Roses certainly not at the races. The match suddenly sprung into life through Bern, shirking a big attempted tackle to make a huge incision up the middle of the field. Sadia Kabeya powered over but another TMO intervention correctly identified a forwarded pass some phases before. The second half still awaited its first try. Superstar Ellie Kildunne, from Keighley in Bradford, brought the Yorkshire stadium to its feet every time she touched the ball when she came on as a replacement. Still, the door was blocked. Eventually, nice composed hands saw Sing finish over the try line in the corner, but was just wide with her own conversion attempt. That remained the only legitimate score of the second half as the Italians knocked on with the clock in the red.
Final Score: 38-5
For England, there will be frustration over a lack of cutting edge in the second half but will hope that will be blowing off the cobwebs ahead of an intriguing fixture away next week against a Wales side looking for a resurgence under new head coach Sean Lynn. Debutante Jade Shekells was very impressive off the bench, giving John Mitchell options if he wants to experiment with a 6-2 bench or even a 7-1 ahead of the World Cup. Tighthead prop will cause the head coach further headaches, Maud Muir was imperious, destroying Italy in the scrum and making yards like a tank in the loose, whilst Sarah Bern off the bench was equally destructive; Mitchell may choose to invoke the Mens’ Springboks in rotating his props game to game rather than having an outright first choice front row. This Six Nations, regardless of whether the Red Roses can achieve an unprecedented fourth consecutive Six Nations Grand Slam, Mitchell will likely treat every game as an audition to experiment and narrow down his World Cup squad. He confirmed just as much after the game, saying that he had already confirmed to his squad the selection for the Wales game to his squad at the same time he told them of the selection for this one.
In the post-match conference, joined by the captain Aldcroft, Mitchell faced the media. I asked him first if he was concerned about England’s indiscipline at the breakdown which teams could look to target the Red Roses later in the tournament. Mitchell did not seem to be highly concerned, saying that it was just an area that England are constantly looking to improve, despite their insane 21-match-winning streak. I also asked Mitchell how the Red Roses were looking to prepare on a six-day turnaround against a Wales team that pushed Scotland in the opening game of the Six Nations but still are an unknown team under new head coach Sean Lynn.
Mitchell responded, “Yeah, we took a good look at [Wales] this morning, they present some opportunities and they also present some strengths that we’ll need to take away. But yeah, we’re quite excited as a coaching group this morning to see the opportunities that are presented so we’ll look at that on Tuesday morning and get the girls’ heads into that. But right now, we’ll just enjoy winning our first test match of the year and enjoying each other’s company because… switching off is really, really important as well.”
For York, this was overall a great occasion and certainly the biggest match played at the LNER Community Stadium since it first opened in 2020. There are definitely logistics to be finetuned ahead of the Australia vs. USA match in August which I am sure will be addressed.
England:
1. Kelsey Clifford 2. Amy Cokayne 3. Maud Muir 4. Rosie Galligan 5. Lilli Ives Campion 6. Zoe Aldcroft (c) 7. Marlie Packer 8. Maddie Feaunati
9. Lucy Packer 10. Helena Rowland 11. Claudia MacDonald 12. Hollie Aitchison 13. Emily Scaratt 14. Mia Venner 15. Emma Sing
Bench:
16. May Campbell 17. Hannah Botterman 18. Sarah Bern 19. Abbie Ward 20. Sadia Kabeya 21. Flo Robinson 22. Jade Shekells 23. Ellie Kildunne
Italy:
1. Silvia Turani 2. Laura Gurioli 3. Sara Seye 4. Valeria Fedrighi 5. Giordana Duca 6. Beatrice Veronese 7. Isabella Locatelli 8. Francesca Sgorbini
9. Sofia Stefan (C) 10. Veronica Madia 11. Francesca Granzotto 12. Beatrice Rigoni 13. Alyssa D’Inca 14. Aura Muzzo 15. Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi
Bench:
16. Vittoria Vecchini 17. Emanuela Stecca 18. Gaia Maris 19. Sara Tounesi 20. Giada Franco 21. Alia Bitonci 22. Emma Stevanin 23. Beatrice Capomaggi