Mitchell's Red Roses too good for Black Ferns

MATCH REPORT: The Red Roses defeated the Black Ferns at Twickenham Stadium with a comprehensive 24-12 win in their final Test before travelling to Canada for WXV1.

With 41,523 fans in attendance, John Mitchell’s side scored four tries through Marlie Packer, Abby Dow, Ellie Kildunne and Natasha Hunt.

Wing Katelyn Vaha’akolo scored a brace for the Black Ferns.

The Black Ferns threatened to open the scoring eight minutes in when Ayisha Leti-I’iga broke down the wing, but an excellent cover tackle by Jess Breach allowed Kildunne to force the turnover.

Minutes later Leti-I’iga again found herself bearing down on the line following a break from Katelyn Vaha’akolo, but another Kildunne intervention dislodged the ball and kept the scores level.

On the 15th-minute mark, a powerful burst from Sarah Bern put the Red Roses in the opposition’s half and Natasha Hunt kicked long to the corner. Alex Matthews won a penalty from the New Zealand line-out and England kicked to the corner before setting their maul up well to put Packer over to open the scoring. Aitchison’s conversion went wide leaving a 5-0 lead.

When the Black Ferns looked to respond with a line-out on the English 22m, Abbie Ward stole the ball and England worked the ball wide to Dow. Dow handed off one defender and stepped around another to eat up Black Fern territory.

Despite being brought down 20 metres from the line, Dow was not to be denied when a few minutes later she stepped past Vaha’akolo and raced in to score in the corner. Aitchison’s kick was unsuccessful and England’s lead remained.

The Red Roses continued to push and forced consecutive penalties before kicking to the corner. From the resulting maul, the ball was worked wide and found Kildunne in space who stepped her way to the line before reaching out to score. Aitchison converted to open up a 17-point lead with two minutes of the half remaining.

Just before half-time Zoe Aldcroft received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle, but the Black Ferns could not capitalise from the resulting penalty.

The scorers:

For England W:
Tries: Packer, Dow, Kildunne, Hunt
Cons: Aitchison 2

For New Zealand W:
Tries: Vaha’akolo 2
Con: Holmes

Teams:

England: 15 Ellie Kildunne, 14 Abby Dow, 13 Emily Scarratt, 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Jess Breach, 10 Holly Atchison, 9 Natasha Hunt, 8 Alex Matthews, 7 Marlie Packer, 6 Maddie Feaunati, 5 Abbie Ward, 4 Zoe Aldcroft, 3 Sarah Bern, 2 Lark Atkin-Davies, 1 Mackenzie Carson.
Replacements: 16 Amy Cockayne, 17 Hannah Botterman, 18 Maud Muir, 19 Morwenna Talling, 20 Georgia Brock, 21 Lucy Parker, 22 Zoe Harrison, 23 Helena Rowland.

New Zealand: 15 Renee Holmes, 14 Ayesha Leti-l’iga, 13 Sylvia Brunt, 12 Ruahei Demant (co-captain), 11 Katelyn Vahaakolo, 10 Hannah King, 9 Maia Joseph, 8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker, 7 Kennedy Tukuafu (co-captain), 6 Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, 5 Maiakawanakaulani Roos, 4 Alana Bremner, 3 Tanya Kalounivale, 2 Georgia Ponsonby, 1 Chryss Viliko
Replacements: 16 Atlanta Lolohea, 17 Kate Henwood, 18 Amy Rule, 19 Maama Mo’ onia Vaipulu, 20 Layla Sae, 21 Iritana Hohaia, 22 Amy du Plessis, 23 Ruby Tui.

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Aurélie Groizeleau (France), Chelsea Gillespie (Scotland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Source: EnglandRugby