Roses are red, Scotland in blue, the stakes are rising, how will they do? The scoreboard answer from a soaking wet Bristol was predictable enough. When bookmakers start quoting prices of 1000-1 on for a team to win a two‑horse race, the chances of England failing to reach the semi‑finals were roughly on a par with anyone in the stands getting sunstroke.
With it came yet another record statistic for John Mitchell’s bunch of serial winners. No leading international rugby side in history has previously won 31 Tests in a row as England’s women have now done: 61 victories in their past 62 Tests leaves precious little room for people to question their pedigree or killer instinct.
Yet would you absolutely put your mortgage on England hoisting the World Cup in just under a fortnight? This may, of course, depend on the precise sum of money involved and the potential availability of other emergency income streams. But would you? Without hesitation? Based on the evidence of this particular game, despite the comfortable victory margin and difficult conditions, you may just be inclined to hold fire.
Sure, the return of Zoe Aldcroft makes a big difference. What a totemic figure the England captain has become. And, as ever, when England get within five metres of the opposition line with ball in hand, their supporters lick their lips. Scotland were wonderfully spirited and endlessly committed but the laws of physics are not easily defied when big forwards with subterranean centres of gravity are queueing up to score.
The occasionally underrated Morwenna Talling deserved her award for player of the match while Kelsey Clifford, in for the injured Hannah Botterman, also took her starting chance with both hands. Her two no-nonsense first-half tries will have particularly delighted everyone at her first club, Finchley RFC, where her father introduced her to rugby at the age of six. Then there is that fleet-footed marvel Abby Dow, who scored her 50th Test try and played with her usual dash and energy.
A single-figure penalty count on a filthy afternoon was another relative plus. But into the final equation must also be factored the handful of tries they didn’t nail through nagging little misjudgments, one or two curious tactical options and occasionally staccato rhythm. On other days, against opponents with a sturdier set piece, the contest could have been appreciably tighter.
Mitchell felt his side had been unfairly handicapped by Scottish cynicism up front but the danger of complacency lurks around every corner. Is it really a great innovation, for example, for non-playing England players to be bashing away at drums in the stands during a game? Shouldn’t they be concentrating more intently on the action and saving all that for afterwards? Or, better still, quietly take a few more lessons before “entertaining” the public further?
Of more immediate urgency, perhaps, is whether England are hitting all the right on-field notes. This, for example, was Holly Aitchison’s big chance, after a lengthy wait, to start at No 10 and show her suitability to retain the jersey for the biggest games. She is a lovely footballer and slotted the vast majority of her goals, but England’s backline seldom clicked as the management might have hoped.
One of those moments, ironically, came after Aitchison had been shifted slightly wider out and came gliding down the 12 channel to score a smooth second-half try. But England, for entirely logical reasons, prefer to start the more direct Tatyana Heard at inside-centre alongside the ever-impressive Meg Jones. Even after all the endless winning it sometimes feels as if England are still not totally sure of their optimal starting XV.
Maybe it won’t matter when Ellie Kildunne is back. Maybe their mighty pack and extraordinary strength in depth will wear down all-comers and the holy grail will be secured for the first time since 2014. Maybe the winners of the other semi-final between Canada and New Zealand on Friday night will be crushed beneath the host nation’s caterpillar tracks like so many before them. As Scotland’s impressive captain, Rachel Malcolm, rightly said afterwards: “England are the No 1 team in the world for a reason.”
But just maybe England’s future opponents still have a tiny sniff. As the lively Francesca McGhie carved through England’s defence late on to help set up the position from which Rhona Lloyd scored Scotland’s consolation try, the eyes of one or two Black Ferns would certainly have lit up. The Scots also had some joy chipping over the top into space and forcing England’s midfield to turn.
We shall find out soon enough. What is not in any doubt is the Red Rose love in the stands. Ashton Gate was sold out for this contest and will be again for the semi-final next Saturday. The final will be a monumental occasion, rain or shine. And the bookies will not be deserting England just yet.
