Poppy Cleall scores hat-trick as England thrash Wales in Women’s Six Nations | Sport

England secured a triple crown, a dominant performance by their pack helping to power their way to victory at the Twickenham Stoop in the only Women’s Six Nations fixture of the weekend. England’s attempt at a second successive grand slam is on hold but on this form there will be no way Italy can turn the white tide when that encounter eventually takes place.

Wales’ scrum was impressive but the home side were dominant in every other phase of the game. Simon Middleton had left England’s captain, Sarah Hunter, out of the starting lineup with Emily Scarratt leading the side. The centre converted eight of England’s 10 tries, which included a hat-trick from the lock Poppy Cleall. Wales’ second-half penalty try was some consolation but such has been England’s superiority in this tournament, that was the only score they have conceded in one-side games against Scotland, Ireland and Saturday’s visitors.

England led 26-0 at the interval but it was not all plain sailing. The first English scrum was obliterated by the Welsh pack before normal service was resumed and Cleall powered over for the first try after some good pressure by the England back row.

That back row included Wasps’ Harriet Millar-Mills, making her first start since the 2017 World Cup. The flanker helped Cleall drive over for her second try by the posts and Wales knew they were in for a long afternoon. Vickii Cornborough was lucky to stay on the field after the prop elbowed the Wales captain, Siwan Lillicrap, at a maul as England continued to dominate territory.

Katy Daley-Mclean provided the highlight of the first half with a 30-metre diagonal run and nice sidestep after more good work by the England forwards to breach the Welsh defence for the third try. Vicky Fleetwood secured the try bonus point when the Saracens flanker emerged from the bottom of a text-book driving maul from a lineout just before the break.

The Breakdown: sign up and get our weekly rugby union email.

Millar-Mills took a flat pass from Daley-Mclean after the interval for a try that capped her comeback after a long period out of the game with a knee injury. Cleall completed her hat-trick with another powerful run as a red sea of defenders opened up in front of her. Cleall then set up Amy Cokayne for the hooker to celebrate her 50th try.

There was some respite for Wales when the England replacement Natasha Hunt tackled Kelsey Jones off the ball and the referee, Amber McLachlan, awarded a penalty try to the visitors with Hunt shown a yellow card. But even with 14 players England kept the scoreboard moving. Zoe Aldcroft and Hannah Botterman, who made a big impact from the bench, scored further tries as the Welsh defence tired. Sarah McKenna completed the rout with a score in the corner in the last minute.

Source Article