Ireland 0-48 England: Red Roses score eight tries to stay on course for Grand Slam

England stayed on course for a Grand Slam with a dominant eight-try Women's Six Nations victory over Ireland.

The Red Roses scored 27 points in the first half in Cork with tries from Sarah Beckett, Tatyana Heard, Ellie Kildunne, Marlie Packer and Morwenna Talling, despite injuries to captain Packer and prop Hannah Botterman.

Amber Reed and two from Alex Matthews were the only tries after the break.

England face France next week in a potential Grand Slam decider.

Ireland remain bottom of the standings after their fourth loss but the margin of defeat was not as big as feared before kick-off.

• Women's Six Nations standings

• Reaction to England's win over Ireland

Mixed first half for the Red Roses

England head coach Simon Middleton made seven changes to the side that beat Wales, and despite some early errors it took just two minutes before Beckett went over in the corner for the first try.

Ireland did frustrate England in the opening stages but the Red Roses soon grabbed their second score through Heard, following a great pass from Holly Aitchison.

Second row Beckett was one of the stars of the first half and was heavily involved in the third score with a barnstorming run and a one-handed offload, before sharp hands sent Kildunne over.

Packer then grabbed the bonus point as the gap in professionalism between the two sides shone through.

However, goal-kicking remained a negative for England. The Red Roses are without their four best kickers, and Lagi Tuima struggled off the tee, including missing a relatively easy conversion of Packer's try.

After just 32 minutes the Red Roses had made 499 metres to Ireland's 74, despite both Botterman and captain Packer being forced off injured to add to England's concerns before a potential Grand Slam decider against France next week.

Replacement Talling then scored her side's fifth try with her first touch from a maul as England stretched well clear.

Improved Ireland

Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird continues to impress for Ireland

Much of the build-up surrounded a potential damage limitation job from the Irish, with the Red Roses on course to break the number of tries scored in a Six Nations, having clocked 31 already in the 2023 competition.

England's record score against Ireland in a Six Nations match is the 79-0 win in 2002, a record which some felt could have been broken on Saturday because of the difference in the level of professionalism between the two governing bodies.

It was the women in green who began the second half the brighter of the two sides, and kept England scoreless for much of the half.

But the hosts - who have managed only 15 points so far this campaign - struggled to turn large amounts of territory into points as their malfunctioning line-out remained a theme.

The Red Roses managed three late scores through Reed and two from Matthews to total 48 points - the first time in this year's competition they have not reached 50.

Ireland face Scotland next week as they seek to avoid the Wooden Spoon.

Line-ups

Ireland: L Delany; A Doyle, A Dalton, V Irwin, N Behan; D O'Brien, M Scuffil-McCabe; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney; N Fryday (capt), S Monaghan; B Hogan, G Moore, D Nic a Bhaird.

Replacements: C Nielson, S McGrath, K Buggy, H O'Connor, J Brown, N Cronin, A McGann, M Deely.

England: Kildunne; Dow, Tuima, Heard, MacDonald; Aitchison, Hunt; Botterman, Powell, Muir, Aldcroft, Beckett, Kabeya, M Packer (capt), Matthews.

Replacements: Davies, Carson, Bern, Burns, Talling, L Packer, Reed, Rowland.

Referee: Lauren Jenner

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