Joy for Scotland's Women

Broadwood Stadium has a synthetic surface, which meant that it was eminently playable.

The win follows their thrashing by France in Round 2 and is their first Six Nations win since 2010, and Scotland used to be one of the most powerful of women's national teams. They won the championship in 1998 after coming second twice but for the last six years before this they have been wooden spoonists.

They are the only Six Nations side to fail to qualify for this year's Women's World Cup after being knocked aside by Spain. No wonder there was rejoicing at  Cumbernauld. In fact Broadwood Stadium could be on the way to becoming a fortress. After all it took Ireland into injury time to beat the Scots there in Round 1.

Results

Round 3

Scotland vs Wales, 15-14

England vs Italy, 29-15

Ireland vs France, 13-10

Round 1

England vs France, 26-13

Ireland vs Scotland, 22-15

Wales vs Italy 20-8

Round 2

England vs Wales, 63-0

France vs Scotland, 55-0

Ireland vs Italy, 27-3

Log after Three Rounds

1. England – 14 pts

2. Ireland – 14 pts

3. France – 6 pts

4. Wales – 5 pts

5. Scotland – 5 pts

6. Italy – 0 pts

Scotland vs Wales

Wales scored first and second and led 14-0. But they did not score again in the next 45 minutes, while Scotland came back in an exciting match.

Scotland missed a penalty as they attacked promisingly but then two penalties took Scotland to a line-out five metres from the Scottish line. Wales mauled and were over for a try credited to captain Carys Phillips. 7-0 after 21 minutes.

Wales had a scrum five metres from the Scottish line, shoved and were rewarded with a penalty try. 14-0 after 35 minutes.

There was time for Scotland to attack with purpose. From a scrum burly No.8 Jade Konkel went right. There was some pick-'n-go by the scots and then Lisa Thomson beat two would-be tacklers and scored. That made the half-time scored 14-7 to Wales.

Twenty minutes into the second half Jade Konkel picked up at the base of the scrum and fed scrumhalf Sarah Law who sent teenage left wing, Rhona Lloyd racing over for a try in the corner. Wales still led, but it was now 14-12 and the tide was with Scotland.

With four minutes to play Wales were penalised about 30 metres from their posts and in front. Scrumhalf Law lit up the gloomy night for the Scots with a kick that never looked like missing.

As time died, Wales threw in skew to a line-out to give the Scots a scrum. They won the ball, kicked out and listened to the gleeful sounds of the final whistle.

Scorers:

For Scotland:

Tries: Lisa Thomson, Rhona Lloyd

Con: Sarah Law

Pen: Sarah Law

For Wales:

Tries: Carys Phillips, penalty try

Cons: Elinor Snowsill 2

Teams

Scotland: 15 Chloe Rollie, 14 Megan Gaffney, 13 Lisa Thomson, 12 Lisa Martin (captain), 11 Rhona Lloyd, 10 Helen Nelson, 9 Sarah Law (/), 8 Jade Konkel, 7 Louise McMillan, 6 Jemma Forsyth, 5 Deborah McCormack, 4 Emma Wassell, 3 Lindsey Smith, 2 Lana Skeldon, 1 Tracy Balmer

Replacements: 16 Lucy Park, 17 Heather Lockhart, 18 Katie Dougan, 19 Sarah Bonar, 20 Lyndsay O'Donnell, 21 Jenny Maxwell, 22 Lauren Harris, 23 Eilidh Sinclair

Wales: 15 Dyddgu Hywel, 14 Jasmine Joyce, 13 Kerin Lake, 12 Robyn Wilkins, 11 Elen Evans, 10 Elinor Snowsill, 9 Rhiannon Parker (Cardiff ), 8 Sioned Harries, 7 Rachel Taylor, 6  Alisha Butchers, 5 Mel Clay, 4 Rebecca Rowe, 3 Amy Evans, 2 Carys Phillips (captain), 1 Cerys Hale

Replacements: 16 Lowri Harries, 17 Gwenllian Pyrs, 18 Gwenllian Pyrs, 19 Siwan Lillicrap, 20 Nia Elen Davies, 21 Sian Moore, 22 Robyn Wilkins, 23 Gemma Rowland

Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa)    

Assistant referees: Joy Neville (Ireland), Alex Pratt (Scotland)    

Television match official: Stefano Pennè (Italy)

Timekeeper: Rebecca Wheater (Scotland)

England vs Italy

A hat-trick in an international match is a feat but not all that rare. But here on The Stoop on Saturday the scorer of a hat-trick for England was a hooker – Vicky Fleetwood. All three of the tries were scored when she was the ball-carrier at the back of a driving maul.

Italy scored first when wing Sofia Stefan dived on a grubber by Manuela Furlam. After that England's try-scoring built up a healthy lead which carried through the late period in the match when they were down to 13 players because of dangerous tackles.

It was a comfortable victory but one that demanded hard work.

Scorers:

For England:

Tries: Wilson, Wilson Hardy, Fleetwood 3

Cons: Scarratt 2

For Italy:

Tries: Stefan, Barattin, Furlan

Teams

England:  15 Sarah McKenna, 14  Amy Wilson Hardy, 13 Emily Scarratt, 12 Rachael Burford, 11 Kay Wilson, 10 Emily Scott, 9 La Toya Mason, 8 Sarah Hunter, (captain), 7 Marlie Packer, 6 Alex Matthews, 5 Harriet Millar-Mills, 4 Tamara Taylor, 3 Laura Keates, 2 Vicky Fleetwood, 1 Justine Lucas

Replacements: 16 Amy Cokayne, 17 Rochelle Clark, 18 Sarah Bern, 19 Poppy Cleall, 20 Izzy Noel-Smith, 21 Natasha Hunt, 22 Katy Mclean, 23 Amber Reed

Italy: 15 Manuela Furlan, 14 Sofia Stefan, 13 Michela Sillari, 12 Paola Zangirolami, 11 Maria Magatti, 10 Beatrice Rigoni, 9 Sara Barattin (captain), 8 Elisa Giordano, 7 Isabellla Locatelli, 6 Lucia Cammarano, 5 Alice Trevisan, 4 Elisa Pillotti, 3 Lucia Gai, 2 Melissa Bettoni, 1 Marta Ferrari

Replacements: 16 Elisa Cucchiella, 17 Gaia Giacomoli, 18 Valentina Ruzza, 19 Michela Este, 20 Valeria Fedrighi, 21 Ilaria Arrighetti, 22 Veronica Madia, 23 Elisa Bonaldo

Referee: Graham Cooper (Australia)    

Assistant referees: Claire Hodnett (England), Local    

Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)

Ireland vs France

France, the reigning Six Nations champions, went confidently to Ireland. They had been competitive against England and had then thrashed Scotland. The match turned out to be the second thriller of the Women's Six Nations weekend.

In the unpleasant conditions, Ireland's women fought there was to a a victory for grit and determination.

This win meant that Ireland are, like England, unbeaten and the last match of the Six Nations promises to be a decider.

Playing with the strong wind in the first half, Ireland led a meagre 3-0, as France were the more threatening of the sides.

Just after the start of the second half France, now wind assisted, took the lead with a try by centre Caroline Ladagnnous. 7-3 to France.

France lost a player to the sin-bin, Ireland had an attacking line-out and prop Leah Lyons scored. 10-7 to Ireland.

Nora Stapleton kicked a penalty. 13-7 with 17 minutes to play.

Jessy Tremouliere kicked a penalty. 13-10 with 14 minutes to play.

It was a stern 14 minutes, in which Ireland were helped by a second French sin-binning.

Scorers

For Ireland:

Try: Leah Lyons

Con: Nora Stapleton

Pens: Nora Stapleton 2

For France:

Try: Caroline Ladagnous

Con: Jessy Tremouliere

Pen: Jessy Tremouliere

Teams

Ireland: 15 Mairead Coyne, 14 Hannah Tyrrell, 13 Jenny Murphy, 12 Claire McLaughlin, 11 Eimear Considine, 10 Nora Stapleton, 9 Mary Healy, 8 Paula Fitzpatrick (captain), 7 Claire Molloy, 6 Ciara Griffin, 5 Marie Louise Reilly, 4 Sophie Spence, 3 Ailis Egan, 2 Leah Lyons, 1 Lindsay Peat

Replacements: 16 Ciara O'Connor, 17 Ilse van Staden (r), 18 Ruth O'Reilly, 19 Ciara Cooney, 20 Nichola Fryday, 21 Larissa Muldoon, 22 Nikki Caughey, 23 Louise Galvin

France: 15 Jessy Trémoulière, 14 Camille Grassineau, 13 Caroline Ladagnous, 12 Elodie Poublan, 11 Shannon Izar, 10 Camille Cabalou, 9 Jade Le Pesq, 8 Safi N’Diaye, 7 Marjorie Mayans, 6 Romane Ménager, 5 Audrey Forlani, 4 Lénaïg Corson, 3 Julie Duval, 2 Gaëlle Mignot (captain), 1 Lise Arricastre

Replacements: 16 Caroline Thomas, 17 Annaëlle Deshayes, 18 Céline Ferer, 19 Laetitia Grand, 20 Yanna Rivoalen, 21 Lucille Godiveau, 22 Marine Ménager, 23 Patricia Carricaburu

Referee: Sara Cox (England)

Assistant Referees: Beatrice Benvenuti (Italy), Dermot Blake (Ireland)

Television Match Official: Sean Davey (England)