With the Men’s Six Nations’ exhilarating finish, with Ireland becoming the first side to win back-to-back Grand Slams, the focus now turns to the Women’s Six Nations.
Unlike earlier, the attention towards the Women’s Six Nations is at a record high, and the opening games provided an exceptional experience.
England Reign Supreme
It’s a surprise to no one that England are two from two in their latest Guinness Six Nations campaign. Not since a round four trip to Grenoble in March 2018 have the serial winners been beaten in the tournament – and even on that occasion, there was just a point in it as France only edged it 18-17.
Saturday’s defeat of Wales means they have now won 26 championship games on the bounce since then, an incredibly consistent run where the target is to get to 29 Ws by the end of this April and collect their sixth successive championship title.
Given all this repeated success, it will sound odd that they have plenty of work yet to do to perfect the latest iteration of their game. Here are the RugbyPass talking points about what unfolded at Ashton Gate.
Bumper Bristol attendance
Before we get stuck into the mechanics of the England display, the first topic that demands praise is the Ashton Gate attendance: 19,705 rugby Six Nations tickets. Sports teams that predictably win their matches aren’t supposed to be increasingly attractive.
It is a great feat to see that the attraction continues for the women’s game, with more fans now purchasing rugby Six Nations tickets for the women’s game.
There is a growing allure about these Red Roses, and there is every chance that women’s rugby will be in full bloom when England hosts the 2025 Rugby World Cup in 17 months.
Saturday’s crowd was a record for a non-Twickenham England home game, and Bristol provided the perfect backdrop. The city centre had a lovely lunchtime atmosphere with rugby jerseys spotted everywhere, and that family-friendly ambience continued out in BS3.
Ashton Gate is one of eight venues on the RWC roster. If the popularity of this weekend’s round two championship match indicates what is to come, women’s rugby is set for a record-breaking treat next year when the 16-team finals get started. We can’t wait.
Breaking down the Win
Now, onto the nit-picking. A cursory glance at the Six Nations table would suggest that England is doing great. Two wins, 10 points, first place—what’s not to like? However, their head-to-head results this year are trending downwards compared to 2023.
While the win is great, fans with rugby Six Nations tickets will agree that their performance has dropped in 2024. In 2023, England scored 68-5 to rout Italy, while Wales won 59-3 at Cardiff.
That’s 127 points scored, including 21 tries, and only eight points conceded.
With the games taking place in Parma and Bristol this time, England’s strike rate has been reduced to 94 points, 33 fewer. Their 16-try tally is five less than in 2023, while they have also conceded 10 points, two more than in the corresponding fixtures a year ago.
There has been plenty of talk about the desire for expansion in their attack, to use the edges a lot more and not be so heavily dependent on their rolling maul as they were at the World Cup in New Zealand, where they agonizingly came up short in the final in November 2022.
Just one maul try was scored on Saturday, and Lark Atkin-Davies drove over in the first half of the additional time for the four-try bonus point score. It was a finely executed move that no one could quibble with, but the added emphasis on moving the ball is causing sloppy spillage.
On the plus side, England pummeled Wales by 15-2 linebreaks and 13-1 offloads. Their ability to transition quickly from their 22 and stretch the Welsh defence on the counter was a key factor in making the half-time scoreline 24-3. It threatened to be much closer, such was the amount of time the visitors had on the ball in the red zone.
Most Red Roses fans will agree that there is a better time to be complacent but improve their performances. The English women’s team has been the best in Women’s Rugby, but they missed out on winning the World Cup on two occasions.
Last time around, the Red Roses were the clear favourites and the best team that season, but they failed in the final against hosts New Zealand.
The World Cup in 2025 will be their best shot at redemption.
The ‘new’ Mitch
Kiwi John Mitchell is now two games into his first head coaching job since 2018 when he finished his single season with the Bulls in South Africa to work as an assistant for Eddie Jones’ England.
Other assistant roles with Wasps and Japan followed after he and Jones went in different directions, and he was a surprise name when chosen to succeed Simon Middleton as the English women’s coach.
In a constantly evolving sport, six years away from running the show is a considerable chunk of time not to be calling the shots, so how England develops on his watch will be monitored with forensic detail.
He has tended to be involved in too many intense coaching setups, dating back to his joyless spell as the All Blacks head coach more than twenty years ago.
Making players nervous isn’t a good trait, so his relationship with Packer and co. will be critical to his success in his latest role.
Some of his post-game soundbites in Bristol encouragingly suggested he might be mellowing in his ways. The word fun got a mention, accompanied by a smile. So, too, did the word trust.
“The girls trust me, and they trust themselves,” he suggested, “which is the biggest connection you can create when you are trying to extend your game or ask the girls to go to places they haven’t been to before and back themselves.”
Only time will tell how this ‘biggest connection’ eventually turns out. For now, the early indications are positive.
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