England Women open Nations Cup campaign with six try win by Julia Hutton

England 36 USA 7



England Women began their defence of the Nations Cup last night (Monday) in fine style with a 36-7 victory over the USA in Toronto.

The reigning Nations Cup and RBS 6 Nations champions ran in six tries to clinch the victory, with a powerful second-half outing proving crucial.

Leading just 10-7 at the break, second-half tries from Lichfield’s Sarah Beale and braces from Richmond’s Fiona Pocock and Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt secured the comfortable win. New cap Heather Fisher was also at the heart of England’s attacking platform, helping to set up one of the tries.

England Head Coach Gary Street said: “Just as expected, it was a physical challenge from the outset and the USA started brightly. We knew, however, that our conditioning would take over and eventually our superior skill set showed and we dominated the second half in territory and possession. It was a good start overall, and we’re really looking forward to playing France on Thursday when we can test ourselves again.”

England Captain Catherine Spencer added: “We have made a fantastic start to this tournament but it’s important for us to build on this momentum for our next test against France. Heather Fisher played extremely well in her first cap, putting pressure on the Americans at every opportunity. She made a fantastic impact on the game and it was a pleasure to play alongside her in the back row.”

The USA made an impressive start to the clash, opening the score-sheet after just eight minutes when they intercepted England’s ball. Saracens’ Charlotte Barras showed good speed to try and stop the USA but the Americans held firm and wing Amy Daniels went over. With Stephanie Bruce adding the conversion the USA led 7-0 after eight minutes.

The tourists immediately hit back and stole a line-out ball to gain the advantage. The ball was then passed out-wide through Scarratt and Saracens’ Amy Garnett. Garnett showed great footwork and skill to draw her defender in before offloading to a full stretched Jo McGilchrist, who used her height to stretch over and score.

Katy McLean couldn’t kick the conversion, but England crucially took a morale boosting 10-7 into the break when Scarratt broke a tackle before off-loading to Richardson. Richardson then set-up Pocock with a great pass for the young wing to score in the corner.

England upped the momentum after the restart when prop Rochelle Clark cut a good line from a McLean pass. Clark was pulled up just short of the line, but Beale was following in support and she showed superb strength to score just left of the posts. McLean converted on 47 minutes to hand England a 17-7 lead.

In open play Richardson got the ball out to Fisher, who cut a good line, to get round her defender and set-up Scarratt, who showed great strength to score under the posts for England’s fourth try. McLean again converted.

With just minutes to go before the final whistle England were as determined as ever to put more points on the board and they did just that with Pocock and Scarratt adding another two tries in four minutes.

After a good scrum, England’s pack drove forward with tremendous strength. The ball was then recycled out to the backline. Scarratt was tackled just short of the line but Pocock was in support and scored, handing her a personal tally of ten tries in ten games.

Scarratt then added her second try when a well executed move opened up a gap in the defence for the Lichfield youngster to run in with ease. For Scarratt this was her 11th try in ten games. With McLean adding her third conversion England took the 36-7 victory.

England

15 Charlotte Barras (Saracens), 14 Katherine Merchant (Worcester), 13 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield), 12 Alice Richardson (Richmond), 11 Fiona Pocock (Richmond), 10 Katy McLean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) VC, 9 Amy Turner (Richmond), 1 Rochelle Clark (Team Northumbria), 2 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 3 Sophie Hemming (Bristol Rugby), 4 Sarah Beale (Lichfield), 5 Jo McGilchrist (Wasps), 6 Karen Jones (Richmond), 7 Heather Fisher (Wasps), 8 Catherine Spencer (Bristol Rugby) Captain. Replacements: 16 Claire Purdy (Wasps), 17 Katy Storie (Team Northumbria), 18 Becky Essex (Richmond), 19 Gemma Sharples (Worcester), 20 Georgina Rozario (Plymouth Albion), 21 Danielle Waterman (Team Northumbria), 22 Kim Oliver (Bristol Rugby)

Tries: McGilchrist, Pocock (2), Beale, Scarratt (2),
Conversions: McLean (3)
Substitutions: Waterman for Barras (53), Essex for McGilchrist (53), Storie for Hemming (62), Purdy for Garnett (62), Oliver for Richardson (62)

England Nations Cup playing schedule:

All games to be played at Appleby College in Toronto. KO’s all BST

England v USA August 10th KO 1130pm WON 36-7
England v France August 13th KO 630pm
England v South Africa August 19th KO 930pm
England v Canada August 22nd KO 10pm