England A and Spain (pictured) will contest the final of this weekend’s women’s rugby European Trophy after both came through final round games with victories.
England beat Russia 39-0 while Spain overcame Sweden 18-3. The two sides met in a friendly game just over a month ago with the English coming out on top.
Elsewhere Holland got their first win of the tournament with a win over Italy while France crushed Finland.
England had a comfortable win over Russia. Tries for Bristol’s Nicola Hoole and Charlotte Male, Old Albanians Sarah McKenna and braces from Richmond’s Fran Matthews and Worcester’s Ceri Large secured victory.
Bristol’s Male rounded off proceedings for England with a 70th minute try after Matthews made a good break to beat two defenders. She couldn’t quite make the try-line but lock Stacey Maguire was in support and handed Male the scoring pass.
Spain qualified for their final with a tighter 18-3 victory over Sweden but the home team, who have been impressive throughout this tournament, were nevertheless convincing.
The Spanish had made six changes from the side that beat France, and a strong defensive showing was key to the win against a young and improving Sweden side.
Marina Bravo kicked the home team to an early lead with a penalty even though early on the Swedish scrum put the Spanish under serious pressure.
Spain struck again though with a good try after scrum-half Isabel Rodríguez linked up with Bárbara Pla who ran blind to give her side an 8-0 lead.
The Swedes pushed hard to hit back and were rewarded with a penalty to get them on the board. However a try from Leah Bailen just after the break gave Spain a 10 point lead.
Spain ended the game convincingly with Bravo crashing over for an unconverted try.
Victory in the final would cap a remarkable year for Spain who won two European titles in 2010.
In the other games, Italy lost out to Holland 22-17 while France hammered Finland by 109 points to 3.
The loss for the Finns is their second heavy defeat this week after they also shipped over 100 points to Spain earlier in the week.
Final round women's European Trophy results:
England 39 Russia 0; Italy 17 Netherlands 22; France 109 Finland 3; Spain 18 Sweden 3
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