When England’s historic World Cup triumph has been followed by such troubled waters, it helps to be able to call on captain fantastic. Playing sevens in Rio a week ago but back at The Stoop on Sunday, Katy Mclean guided England to a resounding victory over Italy which, while perhaps not altogether banishing the post-World Cup hangover, certainly blew away the cobwebs.
Mclean, who actually played as vice-captain behind Tamara Taylor in this new-look side following her World Cup heroics, was among six try scorers as England recovered from a shock 13-0 defeat to Wales to ignite their Women’s Six Nations campaign – the fly-half steadying a ship that has been rocked by numerous retirements, a raft of absentees due to sevens commitments and the departure of Gary Street as head coach.
“Everybody is aware we’re in a rebuilding phase so that game was very important to us. I’ve got six caps less than the rest of the back line put together,” said Mclean. “This Six Nations is going to be hard and that result will really help. It’s more wide open than it has ever been. We want our sport to be recognised and the only way that happens is with competition increasing.”
Italy, to their credit, defended with gusto throughout, were far more adventurous with ball in hand than in recent years and, as a consequence, scored the opening try through the powerful second-row Flavia Severin, a pushover that brought their first points against England since 2012.
By then England had led through a Mclean penalty and had dominated both possession and territory but resolute defending and too many handling errors saw them fail to make the breakthrough.
Italy’s lead lasted seven minutes. The ball would not stick when England turned to the artistry of their backs but, after Rochelle Clark and then Kay Wilson were denied, it was sheer desperation that forced the blindside flanker Alexandra Matthews over. England had another before half-time, again perseverance paying off with Abbie Scott going over from a couple of metres for a 15-7 lead.
The hosts continued to make ground down the middle and soon after the restart it was the flanker Hannah Gallagher’s turn. Again, however, Italy denied any quick ball and the chance was gone – how England could have done with Maggie Alphonsi abandoning her position in the commentary box, lacing up her boots once more and providing the kind of breakdown dominance she was so renowned for.
On the hour mark, however, the inside-centre Ceri Large put them out of reach with a third try, and soon after Mclean had the score her performance deserved, bundling over after a quick tap. Completing a fine display, Gallagher then burst through the middle for a well-earned try before the full-back Wilson rounded things off in the corner.
“A win always takes the pressure off but we are looking at the quality of performance and we got that,” said England’s interim head coach, Nicky Ponsford. “We started last week with a performance we weren’t 100% happy with and asked for a response and we got it. Katy gives us that experience to deal with the pressure situations and gives the others around her a confidence boost.”
England Wilson; Laybourn, Brown, Large, Gregson (McKenna, 52); Mclean (Goddard, 75), Blackburn (Davidson, 75); Clark (Cornborough, 52), Fleetwood (Cokayne, 66), Keates (Lucas, 60), Taylor (capt), Scott, Matthews, Gallagher, Millar-Mills (Field, 66).
Tries Matthews, Scott, Large, Mclean, Gallagher, Wilson Cons Mclean 2, Goddard Pen Mclean.
Italy Furlan; Magatti, Stefan, Zangirolami (Veronese, 65), Sillari; Rigoni (Schiavon, 61), Barattin; Cucchiella (Arrighetti, 45), Bettoni, Coulibaly (Cammarano, 60), Severin, Trevisan (Pantarotto, 70), Este, Giordano (Ruzza, 68), Gaudino (capt).
Try Severin Con Sillari Sin-bin Rigoni 51.
Referee A Nievas (Sp) Att 2, 976.
