Women’s Six Nations: Red Roses continue march towards yet another title in front of record crowd
Red Roses players celebrating against Wales in the 2025 Six Nations.
Round Two of the 2025 Guinness Women’s Six Nations threw up three intriguing games in the wider context of the title race.
The Red Roses ventured down to Wales after making 13 changes to their match-day 23, while Scotland made the journey across the channel to face France and Ireland took on Italy in Parma.
It was an incredibly high-scoring weekend, though, with teams keen to nail down their title aspirations heading into the first fallow week of the Championship.
Wales 12-67 England
The Red Roses’ hunt for a fourth successive Grand Slam was well and truly kept alive this weekend as they romped to a mammoth win over Wales at the Principality.
Despite England coming down the M4 as heavy favourites, it was in fact Wales who opened the scoring as Jenni Scoble crossed for the first try of the day. The lead was short-lived, though, as Maddie Feaunati hit back with a try of her own just six minutes later. From here, the Red Roses just ran riot.
Wales-born back Meg Jones added the second with a superb solo effort, before TikTok sensation Sarah Bern added her name to the scoresheet as well. After just 27 minutes, John Mitchell’s side had the bonus point in the bag as Feaunati completed her brace.
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The flurry of tries continued shortly after the half-time break as well, with World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year Ellie Kildunne grabbing a quick-fire hat-trick to put England 38-7 up after 56 minutes.
Wales finally came back into the contest, though, as Kate Williams crossed for their second try of the game, but this proved to be a mere consolation as England’s scoring antics continued through Abby Dow.
In the final five minutes, the Red Roses put the proverbial cherry on top of the cake through an Abi Burton brace and another score from Dow to round off a sensational win in Cardiff.
There was also some positive news for the Welsh, though, despite the loss, with a record crowd of 21,186 in attendance.
France 38-15 Scotland
Hot on the Red Roses’ tail for the title, France needed to make a statement against Scotland.
And, in that spirit, they raced into an early 13-0 lead, thanks to two Morgane Bourgeois penalties and a try from Carla Arbez.
On the stroke of half-time, Scotland hit back a try of their own as Emma Orr pounced on a loose ball to make it 13-7 at the break.
Bourgeois hit back with her third penalty just after half-time to make it 16-7, before Pauline Bourdon Sansus banged over a cheeky drop-goal to make it 19-7.
Helen Nelson ended the one-way scoring with a Scottish penalty, making it 19-10, but Les Bleus were clearly still in the ascendancy and they made it count through Teani Feleu as she dotted down for their second try of the game.
They didn’t have to wait long for their third either, as Seraphine Okemba scored out wide. Fittingley, Bourgeois added her name to the try-scoring chart as she secured the all-important bonus-point heading into the final 15 minutes.
But, Scotland did grab one final consolation score as Eliz Martin flopped over from the base of a maul in the final play of the game.
Italy 12-54 Ireland
Almost as soon as the game had started in Parma, Italy were reduced to 14 as Valeria Fedrighi was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle; which gave Ireland a leg up in the contest.
The visitors quickly rubbed salt into this Italian wound too, as Aoife Dalton powered over in the corner for the opening score. Her try was swiftly followed by their second too, as Anna McGann reaped the rewards of a dazzling attack to dot down.
Returned to the full compliment, the Azzurri hit back with their first try as Sofia Stefan scampered home after a cheeky snipe from a scrum.
This proved only a momentary fight back, though, as Ireland’s dominance continued through back-to-back efforts from Amee-Lee Costigan and McGann to secure the bonus-point before half-time.
Ireland were clearly in a rampant mood, and they added their fifth of the day through Linda Djougang as she powered over from short range.
It quickly turned sour for the tighthead, though, as she too was sent to the sin-bin. But, this didn’t deter Ireland as they scored yet another try through Dorothy Wall.
Italy finally managed to end the one-way traffic with Beatrice Rigoni adding her name to the scoresheet, but it was a mere consolation score as Ireland continued their dominance.
Brittany Hogan was the next Irish player to score, as she bashed her way through the defence to score, before McGann completed her hat-trick in the final play of the game.