England Women had to settle for second best in their second RBS 6 Nations outing of the season, losing a tense 16-15 clash against Wales at Taffs Well RFC on Saturday.
The defeat was England’s first loss since losing the 2006 IRB Rugby World Cup Final and now ends England’s chances of securing a fourth consecutive Grand Slam crown.
England were penalised early on in the game for their ill discipline and paid the price with Evans kicking one out of two penalty kicks at goal within the first 15 minutes. The match though proved a thriller with England taking the lead, followed by wales – but the match was sealed when Scarratt (England) was sin-binned on 61 minutes. With England reduced to 14 players, Wales took advantage and some good work in the midfield saw the ball get out to replacement Aimee Young who charged through and scored in the corner.
Evans missed the conversion whilst McLean added her first penalty to take back a 15-13 lead with minutes remaining. But with England immediately penalised for off-side, Evans crucially stroked over a penalty and stole a last gasp 16-15 victory for Wales.
England Head Coach Gary Street said: “We are all very disappointed. We didn’t achieve what we set out to do. We were up against a fired up Welsh team and we paid the price. If we had performed well we would have won this game”.
Danielle Sellwood, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
