Red Roses hammer Wales in final World Cup warm-up

England …………73pts Wales ………………….7pts

By MARK DOCHERTY

The Red Roses secured a world record 25th consecutive victory in style with a 66-point margin of victory against a lacklustre Wales in their final World Cup warm-up match.

Helena Rowland shone with a hat-trick, emphatically banishing the demons of her sin-bin against the USA last time out.

Rowland said: “Last time out wasn’t the performance I wanted so I’m happy to have come out and put in a performance I can be proud of. It was great to put that to bed and focus on what comes next.”

England Head Coach Simon Middleton will announce his 25-player squad for the World Cup in New Zealand on Tuesday, and said: “You can see how difficult it is when everybody puts their hands up like this. I hope the players that don’t make it understand how difficult a choice it is.”

Middleton made 12 changes to his starting lineup, opting for experience as the likes of Sarah Hunter and Marlie Packer came into a pack with over 500 caps.

Meanwhile, Welsh Head Coach Ioan Cunningham named a familiar side to the Ashton Gate crowd, with 10 Bristol Bears picked, including rapid winger Jasmine Joyce.

The Red Roses were quickest out of the blocks as a clinical counter-attack following a botched lineout saw Rowland cruise through a gap to score.

But the visitors levelled on 14 minutes through a Gwen Crabb maul try just minutes after Rowland had another wonderful score disallowed by the TMO.

As expected though, England soon took control as an incisive running line cut by talismanic centre Emily Scarratt allowed her to crash over and convert her own try.

Welsh back rower Alex Callender was sin-binned for collapsing a maul, with the resulting penalty seeing Marlie Packer touch down from another maul.

The Red Roses scrum then drove over for a penalty try off opposition ball, before Ellie Kildunne scored in the corner on the stroke of half-time.

The hosts continued their dominance through an Amy Cokayne maul try a minute into the second half, before the replacement hooker offloaded to Rowland to race in for her second.

Scarratt then powered over again on 53 minutes with a carbon copy of her first off the same lineout move, before the untouchable Rowland sealed a deserved hat-trick under the posts.

Replacement prop, Hannah Botterman, scored England’s tenth try of the match on 65 minutes before a combination of Alex Matthews and Zoe Aldcroft drove over the line as England romped to a 73-7 victory.

Middleton and Cunningham’s sides produced contrasting performances, just 24 and 25 days respectively from their openers in New Zealand.

MATCH STATS

ENG V WAL

9 – Penalties conceded – 17

17 – Lineouts won – 3

1 – Lineouts lost – 6

2 – Scrums won – 3

0 – Scrums lost – 1

0 – Sin bin – 1

TEAMS

ENGLAND: Kildunne 8; Thompson 7; Scarratt 8 (Aitchison 55, 6); Rowland (69), 9; McKenna 6; Harrison 7 (Reed 55, 7); L Packer 7 (MacDonald 55, 7); Cornborough 7 (Botterman 55, 8); Davies 6 (Cokayne 35, 8); Bern 8 (Muir 55, 6); Aldcroft 8; Ward 7; Matthews 7; M Packer 7 (Beckett 55, 6) ; Hunter 7 (Cleall 55, 6).

Wales: Terry 6; Norkett 6; Williams-Morris 7; H. Jones 6 (Webb 50, 6); Joyce 6; Snowsill 5 (George 50, 5); Lewis 6 (Bevan 40, 6); Pyrs 5 (Thomas 40, 5); Phillips 6 (K Jones, 50); Hale 5 (Tuipulotu 50, 5); John 6 (Lillicrapp 40, 7); Crabb 7; Butchers 6 (Lewis 55, 5); Calendar 5; Harries 5.

REFEREE: Aurélie Groizeleau (France)

ATTENDANCE: 11,691

STAR PLAYER: Helena Rowland