- England 52-10 Scotland
- Defending champions run in eight tries; Scots’ Wright sent off
The Women’s Six Nations has a new format but in this curtain-raiser in Doncaster it was the same old story. Castle Park may have been silent but there is little doubt England, who ran in eight tries, will be the big noises of the championship once again.
Much of the attention in Yorkshire was on England’s young fly-half Helena Rowland, the successor, at least for now, to Katy Daley-McLean, who retired at Christmas. Rowland, who will go back into the sevens lineup to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics when the Six Nations is over, showed she is proficient at 15-a-side rugby, too. In truth, though, she had something of an armchair ride behind a dominant Red Roses pack in which Poppy Cleall, at No 8 in the absence of Sarah Hunter, the captain, was a real force.
