At the 2023 Women’s Six Nations match between Wales and England, the game ended with a59-3 victory for England. Wales got an early lead with Keira Bevan’s penalty goal but couldn’t hold on to their Triple Crown hopes as England had a strong performance in the Cardiff Arms Park. At half-time, the score was 19-3 in favour of England. Eight players from England scored tries while three conversions were made by Sing and four others by Tuima.
The Red Roses were on fire in the second half, making it their 22nd consecutive unbeaten Six Nations match. This means that they stayed at the top of the leaderboard, while Wales came at no. 2 before France’s game against Scotland this Sunday. England showed signs of eagerness to win when Jess Breach ran wildly down her wing.
The Welsh team were the first to score, after Elinor Snowsill picked up the ball that was overthrown during a line-out. Kelsey Jones managed to get close to scoring, but England’s captain Marlie Packer prevented them from doing so. In the end, Wales still won points when Bevan kicked a penalty in front of the cheering home fans.
England had a chance to get ahead after Wales made a mistake in their restart, but someone from England knocked on the ball. However, quickly afterwards, the scrum-half for England scored a try with clever moves. Emma Sing added a conversion too, which was her first time playing for England. From thereon out, England started to show why they are better and eventually won the game.
Bethan Lewis purposely gave England the ball five metres away from their goal and Wales tried to keep it, but Holly Aitchison released it and put behind a perfect kick. Through this, Tatyana Heard, who was declared Player of the Match, could score for their team.
England gained another point just before half-time when Abby Dow ran past three defenders after she received a long pass from Aitchison.
Sing did some special moves which helped England score 19 points by halftime. A lot of people (8,000 to be exact) bought tickets for the match between the top two teams. Alex Callender’s 50-meter dash kicked off the second half, but it was all England after that, as they dominated over their opponents. It was Aitchison who scored the first goal of the next half and this got them an extra point too!
England scored their second try when Sarah Bern easily ran past Wales’ player, Hannah Jones. She then passed the ball to Breach who made it through and managed to score under the posts.
England started passing the ball around with wide runs and this gave Ellie Kildunne a chance to join in and make her first touch on the field.
Not long after that, Wales were dealt another bad blow as Kate Williams was given a yellow card for doing a dangerous tackle.
England kicked the ball and played a game plan that sparked their forwards, before Maud Muir scored a try right under the goal posts. Hannah Botterman also joined her in the attempt scorers list, allowing England to reach fifty points. After that, play was stopped as referee Joy Neville noticed two possible violations.
Packer received a yellow card for making a harsh tackle on Hannah Jones, and then May Campbell was sent off to the penalty box for tackling Lisa Neumann in the same way. Although Wales had two extra players due to these events, England was still able to have an edge over them at the end.
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham said he noticed some positives from this event.
England head coach Simon Middleton said, “For the first 30 minutes, we were doing great. We showed physical dominance and had more territory and possession than Wales.
But even though we had three attempts to score in their 22, we only managed to score three points. This is what makes this level so difficult.
We are definitely getting better as a team since our growth has been massive.”
The opposition came at us hard and tried to take control. It felt like it was going to be a tough match, but our team held strong. We were great with how we managed the pressure, created solutions, and showed some amazing attacking skills.
Wales had Keight, Neumann, H Jones (captain), Bluck, and Norkett on the field. Snowsill and Bevan were their other players. Substitutes included Pyrs, K Jones, Tuipulotu, Fleming, G Evans, B Lewis, Callender, and Harries with C Phillips, Hope, Hale, John, K Williams as backups.
England had Sing then Breach, Tuima , Heard , Dow in the playing position. Aitchison and L Packer also represented England . Other players included Carson , Davies , Bern , Aldcroft , O’Donnell , Kabeya and M Packer(captain) with Matthews in the team . Campbell was the substitute along Botterman who took part with Muir , Burns and Beckett . Wyrwas and McKenna with Kildunne were also present for England .
Joy Neville Leads the Way – Beatrice Benvenuti and Maria Pacifico Assist, Olly Hodges Stands Ready!
Joy Neville will be the referee, Beatrice Benvenuti and Maria Pacifico will help her as assistants, and Olly Hodges will be watching in case there are any problems.
