'Calm' England have 'great capacity' to regroup

While the crowd in Cork rose to their feet to clap off an Ireland side who were only 7-5 down against the favourites for the Rugby World Cup, England's leaders blocked out all the noise and gathered in a huddle.

Captain Zoe Aldcroft led the discussion with lock Abbie Ward, fly-half Zoe Harrison, scrum-half Natasha Hunt and centre Meg Jones.

All the remaining players were off down the tunnel, but the Red Roses' leadership team - like they did at the Principality Stadium in round two - took time to debrief before hearing from head coach John Mitchell and his assistants in the changing room.

Ireland had frustrated Mitchell's side for large parts of the first half, and took a deserved lead through a try by wing Amee-Leigh Costigan.

However, Morwenna Talling's score helped the visitors to a narrow half-time lead, and six unanswered second-half tries emphatically ended any possibility of a shock defeat.

"The half-time dressing room was calm," Harrison told BBC Sport.

"It was all about how we could take pressure off ourselves and to just work on the successes we were getting."

The Red Roses have not lost since their World Cup final defeat by New Zealand in 2022, with Mitchell's side rarely even close to defeat in their incredible 23-game winning run.

Their most recent proper challenge came back in October against Canada at WXV1, where again they only held a 7-5 lead at half-time before eventually winning 21-12 to retain their title.

Cork provided a similar exercise, which is exactly what England want before a home World Cup kicks off in August.

"We actually really enjoyed that test. We needed that and it's good for the game to have a first half like that," England attack coach Lou Meadows told BBC Sport.

"It was a physical battle and all about winning the collision and we just didn't do that in the first half.

"They fixed it in the changing room themselves. It was about the collision and winning the carry, they spoke about the one action they needed to achieve that.

"We wanted to keep it simple, clear that up and then we can play fast."

The message about winning the collision from the leadership team quickly came to fruition when Jess Breach burst down the wing to score a disallowed try just over 30 seconds into the second half.

It was the start of a free-flowing half of rugby from the Red Roses, led by fly-half Harrison, who despite being known for her strong kicking game was lively with ball in hand.

"I really enjoyed Zoe's running game today, we know she can kick and distribute but I just liked how she got her head up early and saw space," former England fly-half and 2014 World Cup-winner Katy Daley-Mclean told BBC's Rugby Union Weekly.

"She was solving the problems in front of her, she is starting to develop into a really well-rounded 10 and coming into form at exactly the right time."

The biggest swing came when Mitchell unloaded his bench, which saw replacement prop Sarah Bern score twice and Kelsey Clifford grab her first international try.

Mitchell made 13 changes to his starting XV from the opening win over Italy to the hammering of Wales in Cardiff as he aims to build "two teams" before the World Cup.

"One thing England have is a massively good bench, Sarah Bern came on and was outstanding," added Mclean.

"Kelsey Clifford and Maddie Feaunati were brilliant, the list is endless. They all came on and added.

"It is great for England as it is competition but they know that very few teams in the world can live with you for 80 minutes and your bench."

England, who next face Scotland in Leicester next Saturday, are chasing a seventh Women's Six Nations title in a row and a fourth successive Grand Slam.

France are the last team to beat the Red Roses in the Six Nations back in 2018 and, after a convincing win over Wales, remain on course to set up a potential Grand Slam-decider at Allianz Stadium on 26 April.

Former Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton says England need to address how they begin games.

"They need to look at how they start the game, they struggled last week in the start against Wales and again this week," Middleton told BBC Sport.

"What they do have is a great capacity to regroup themselves and that strength in depth, but against better sides they won't get presented with as many opportunities.

"Other sides will not fall away as much as Ireland did."

Come World Cup time - in front of what are likely to be record-breaking crowds - being calm and regrouping under pressure is certainly a handy skill to call upon.