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Charlie Elliott reviews the two key fixtures on Sunday as England Women got their Six Nations campaign off to a flying start and Bath continued their title charge
England 38-5 Italy: Red Roses too good for Azzurri in Six Nations opener
England stretched their winning record to 21 consecutive matches, which has been running since 2022, with a wholly convincing win over Italy to start their Six Nations campaign.
Five tries in the first half sent John Mitchell’s side into a commanding lead, before a subdued second half only saw one score for either side.
Mia Venner took only three minutes to score on her full debut, after an attacking scrum close to the try line saw the ball spread over to her wing for her to finish with relative ease.
The legendary Emily Scarratt doubled the lead only three minutes later, bundling the ball over after receiving it from close range.
A penalty try and a score from Claudia MacDonald before the half-hour mark, accompanied with near impeccable kicking from Emma Sing, took the scoreline to 26-0 in the favour of the hosts.
By that point, the game seemed to be done and dusted, with Italy never really threatening the Red Roses try line until Francesca Sgorbini dotted down following a maul just after the half-hour mark.
Any hope of an Azzurri comeback was soon extinguished when Amy Cokayne scored the last try of the half to send her side into a commanding lead at the half.
The final 40 minutes were scrappy, and England never really got going, with Italy clearly wanting to preserve their pride, and it was very nearly a scoreless second half.
There was finally a bit of fluidity right before the end, as Sing’s efforts were rewarded with a simple try out wide following some quick passing.
Not an absolute classic of a game, the Red Roses will be happy with their victory but hope to improve against stronger opposition going forward.
Bath 42-26 Gloucester: Bath prove title credentials in hard-fought win over Cherry and Whites
An even first half followed by a strong second half from hosts Bath saw them win by a convincing scoreline over their West Country rivals at The Rec.
It was end-to-end stuff in the first 40, as the Cherry and Whites kept the hosts within arm’s length and responded to anything thrown at them, resulting in a 28-26 scoreline in favour of Bath at the break.
Tries from Guy Pepper, Max Ojomoh and Thomas du Toit within the first 25 minutes saw the hosts take an early 21-7 lead, with Jack Clement the only scorer in the first portion of the match for the visitors.
The three tries to one scoreline was then cancelled out in a frantic final ten minutes of the half, during which Tomos Williams, Seb Blake and George Barton dotted down for the visitors with Finn Russell the only player in Blue, Black and White to respond.
Courtesy of a blocked Santi Carreras conversion from right between the posts, the only conversion miss all game, Bath had a two-point lead going into the break.
For all of the brilliant attacking work in the first, the second was a rather subdued affair.
Will Stuart and Sam Underhill were the only try scorers in the second, both bundling the ball over the line after plenty of attacking phases.
Gloucester didn’t have any answers offensively and were not as free-flowing as their fans have grown used to this season, with a mix of stout defence and some poor decisions on the ball being their undoing.
The result takes Bath six points clear at the top of the table, with the Cherry and Whites dropping down to fifth, level on points with Harlequins after securing a try bonus point.
