England too strong for much improved Scotland
Scotland put together a much better performance than they have in recent years at Cumbernauld tonight, but a well-drilled England were still too strong.
Published by John Birch, February 10th, 2016
5 minute read
England's Harriet Millar-Mills is tackled during the Women's Six Nations match at Cumbernauld (PA News)
Harriet Millar-Mills scored twice as England beat Scotland 32-0 in the opening round of the Women's Six Nations Championship in Cumbernauld, Glasgow. The 24-year-old back-row forward scored two of England's five tries either side of half time as they dominated the home team on a rainy evening in Scotland. Substitute Lucy Demaine also got on the score sheet to mark her dream England debut and La Toya Mason orchestrated the tempo of the match from scrum half on her 50th appearance. Bristol blindside flanker Millar-Mills earned herself player of the match with a stunning performance in the set piece and breakdown.
"It's amazing," said Millar-Mills. "I don't know what to say; it's the end of the game and I'm knackered but I've never got player of the match before. Chuffed."
La Toya Mason showed her experience and composure to set up Millar-Mills for her first try from the back of a scrum. "It was awesome play off the scrum, Sarah Hunter ran off it and La Toya did an awesome pass to put me in the space. For the second one, I think the full back over chased and Lotte (Clapp) shouted at me to go and I went and did what I was told."
England battled hard in the first half to frustrate Scotland with a high intensity in defence which forced mistakes to creep into the Scottish play. Scotland came close to scoring on a number of occasions in the first half but England's organisation and maturity in their style of play kept them in control, capitalising on Scotland's errors to earn a 15-0 lead by half time.
Early in the second half Scotland did have an opportunity to put some points on the board from a penalty, which Lisa Martin left to Lana Skelton. However the hooker slid the ball wide, and - although Jade Konkel came within feet of the line later in the game - the home team rarely pressed the England line.
The English defence was well marshalled, and it was clear that news of the pace of Scotland's Rhona Lloyd had travelled south, the young wing every chance of a break being snuffed out with her never having any room to use her speed. Other Scots players to impress included Konkel, Megan Gaffney (who has clearly benefited from her time with the GB sevens squad), and captain Martin who was at the heart of everything.
But, despite their efforts, England were able to add three more tries in the second half to the two scored before the break. Eight minutes into the second half, Millar-Mills again used her pace to produce another individual effort to touch down under the posts, Sarah Hunter then forced her way over from the back of a driving maul shortly afterwards, and finally fortune also favoured the visitors when Lucy Demaine, on her debut, charged down a kick before touching down.
As England Lead Coach Scott Bemand said: "Scotland turned up to try and played well. Our biggest plus was our energy in defence, managing to shut out a pretty spirited Scotland team." Scotland have been accused of allowing their heads to drop in past years, and have tended to ship large numbers of points in the final quarter of games - but that was not the case tonight with Scotland never giving up and pressing right to the end. "A good contest but we got what we came here for", was Bernard's final summary.
Scotland: 15. Chloe Rollie, 14. Megan Gaffney, 13. Hannah Smith, 12. Lisa Thomson, 11. Rhona Lloyd, 10. Lisa Martin, 9. Sarah Law, 1. Tracy Balmer, 2. Lana Skeldon, 3. Lindsey Smith, 4. Emma Wassell, 5. Deborah McCormack, 6. Jemma Forsyth, 7. Karen Dunbar, 8. Jade Konkel
Replacements: 16.Sarah Quick, 17. Debbie Falconer, 18. Heather Lockhart, 19. Fiona Sim, 20. Anna Stodter, 21. Jennifer Maxwell, 22. Lauren Harris, 23. Eilidh Sinclair
England: 15. Katie Mason, 14. Ruth Laybourn, 13. Lauren Cattell, Ceri Large, Lotte Clapp, 10. Amber Reed, 9. La Toya Mason, 1. Rochelle Clark, 2. Amy Cokayne , 3. Vickii Cornborough, 4. Abbie Scott, 5. Emily Braund, 6. Harriet Millar-Mills, 7. Izzy Noel-Smith 8. Sarah Hunter
Replacements: 16. Emma Croker, 17. Heather Kerr, 18. Bee Dawson, 19. Courtney Gill, 20. Poppy Cleall, 21. Bianca Blackburn, 22. Lucy Demaine, 23. Leanne Riley
