England see off Ireland with dominant second half

Women's Six Nations

Ireland (5) 5

Try: Costigan

England (7) 49

Tries: Talling, Harrison, Jones, Bern 2, Kildunne, Clifford Cons: Harrison 6, Aitchison

England produced a clinical second-half performance to defeat Ireland in Cork and maintain their bid for a fourth successive Women's Six Nations Grand Slam.

The hosts proved more than able competitors for this strong Red Roses team in the early exchanges and grabbed the opening try through wing Amee-Leigh Costigan.

Late in the first half, lock Morwenna Talling scored to give England a surprisingly narrow two-point lead at half-time.

However, John Mitchell's side proved too strong in the second half and scored tries through Zoe Harrison and Meg Jones to take advantage of prop Niamh O'Dowd's sin-bin.

Replacement prop Sarah Bern powered over for two tries, before Ellie Kildunne and Kelsey Clifford capped off an impressive second-half performance.

The victory extends the Red Roses' winning run to 23 games before the home Rugby World Cup that starts in August.

England are seeking a seventh Six Nations title in a row and host Scotland in Leicester next Saturday.

Ireland, who finished third in last year's championship, next face Wales at Rodney Parade next Sunday.

England still too strong for improving Ireland

Last year in front of 48,778 at Twickenham, England recorded their highest points win (88) and 11th successive victory over Ireland.

However, Scott Bemand's side have dramatically improved over the past 12 months to record a shock win over world champions New Zealand at WXV1 in October, backed up by the 54-12 thrashing of Italy - a first away win in the Six Nations since 2021.

Ferocious and brave defence from Ireland frustrated the visitors in the opening period, with Mitchell's side lacking their usual first-half composure.

Fly-half Dannah O'Brien had joy finding space in behind England's back three and set up the opening try for Costigan through another well-weighted kick.

Mitchell retained his regular front-line starters that hammered Wales in Cardiff last time out, with the vast majority playing key roles in his side's third successive Six Nations Grand Slam and WXV1 title last year.

Lock Talling crossed from a maul for England's only first-half score, to show why Mitchell required his main stars in Cork to defeat an Ireland side who have made clear their intentions to compete at the World Cup.

Costigan, the first Ireland player to score a try against England since 2018, produced a stunning try-saving tackle on Jess Breach and full-back Kildunne spilled the ball over the tryline, as England began to take control of the game early in the second half.

A big factor in the defending champions eventually seizing control was the yellow card of prop O'Dowd, who was part of a struggling Irish scrum.

Harrison's show-and-go grabbed a vital try before Kildunne made amends for her earlier error by helping to set up Jones' score.

Prior to the game, Ireland had scored 10 points and conceded 205 in their past three championship games against England.

The difference in replacements proved pivotal in the closing stages as England ran up a scoreline that at one point looked unlikely.

The gap in quality may have closed over the past 12 months, but no score from Bemand's side in the second half shows much more work is needed if Ireland want to join the World Cup hosts as possible contenders later in the year.

Line-ups

Ireland: Flood; McGann, Dalton, Higgins, Costigan (capt); O'Brien, Lane; O'Dowd, Jones, Djougang; Tuite, Wall; Hogan, King, Wafer.

Replacements: Moloney, McCarthy, Haney, Campbell, Moore, Reilly, Fowles, Elmes Kinlan.

Sin-bin: Niamh O'Dowd (45)

England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Harrison, Hunt; Botterman, Atkin-Davies, Muir, Talling, Ward, Aldcroft (capt), Kabeya, Matthews.

Replacements: Cokayne, Clifford, Bern, Galligan, Feaunati, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland.

Referee: Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau (fra)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (sco)