England Women were crowned the RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam champions for a second consecutive year on Saturday after an emphatic 30-0 victory over Wales at Taff’s Well RFC.

England Head Coach Geoff Richards’ side firmly slammed the door shut on their rivals, just as they had done against Scotland, Italy and Ireland this season. Only old rivals France managed to put any points on the reigning champions.

Richards said: “This is a fantastic feeling. I am delighted for the players and the management team that we have defended our title and defended it with some pride and passion.

“This season has certainly seen a lot of changes following the Rugby World Cup but despite so many new players coming in, the team has gelled and performed like a well drilled unit throughout the tournament. That is a testament to not only this team, but the work the union has been doing to develop players through all the player pathways.”

England’s convincing win came courtesy of tries from Clifton’s Danielle Waterman (2), Saracens’ Karen Andrew and Amber Penrith. Andrew also added 10 points from the boot.

Wing Waterman claimed the first of her two tries after just 10 minutes to send a clear message out to Wales that England were not just looking for a title, but another good rugby outing. The score came after continuous pressure in Wales’ 22 and after another scrum the ball was recycled out-wide to Andrew and Saracens centre Rachel Burford who off-loaded to Waterman on the right wing. Andrew missed the conversion, but added a penalty minutes later to take England 8-0 ahead.

Wing Penrith, making her first ever start for England after coming off the bench at the last minute following Charlotte Barras’ late withdrawal, certainly made her mark just before the break with her first international try.

It was a scrum, again in Wales’ 22, that handed England the attacking platform and with Clifton flanker Georgia Stevens coming off the back of a driving maul, she off-loaded with excellent precision to Penrith in the corner to hand England a 13-0 lead at half-time.

Andrew added her second penalty after the restart, but the tourists had to wait until the 70th minute to make any further impression on the score-line. Although England dominated possession and territory Wales proved difficult to breakdown, though they finally gave way in the dying minutes of the game with the visitors running in two late tries.

First came Waterman’s second touchdown from a turn-over created by centre Burford. She popped the ball up to Thirk forward Tamara Taylor who made space before setting Waterman loose on the right wing.

Andrew converted before adding her own try on 80th minutes after the ball was picked-up from the back of a ruck by scrum-half Amy Turner who set-up Andrew with a nice offload.  The fly-half converted to hand England victory and the title for the second year on the bounce.

England:

1 Rochelle Clark (Henley), 2 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 3 Katy Storie  (Blaydon), 4 Tamara Taylor (Thirsk), 5 Jo McGilchrist (Wasps), 6 Georgia Stevens (Clifton), 7 Maggie Alphonsi (Saracens) VC, 8 Catherine Spencer (Worcester), 9 Amy Turner (Wasps), 10 Karen Andrew (Saracens), 11 Sue Day (Wasps) C, 12 Rachel Burford (Saracens), 13 Claire Allan (Saracens), 14 Danielle Watermen (Clifton), 15 Charlotte Barras (Saracens). Replacements: 16 Emma Layland (Richmond), 17 Vanessa Gray (Wasps), 18 Sarah Beale (Leos), 19 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield), 20 Katy McLean (Thirsk), 21 Michaela Staniford (Wasps), 22 Amber Penrith (Cardiff Quins).

Tries: Waterman (2), Penrith, Andrew
Conversions: Andrew (2)
Penalties:  Andrew (2)
Substitutions: Gray for Storie (64), Staniford for Allan (64), Layland for Garnett, Beale for McGilchrist (73).

Wales:

1 Louise Horgan, 2 Rhian Bowden, 3 Jennifer Davies, 4 Claire Donovan, 5 Liza Burgess, 6 Catrina Nicholas, 7 Jamie Kift, 8 Kylie Wilson, 9 Melissa Berry (c), 10 Rachel Poolman, 11 Louise Rickard, 12 Clare Flowers, 13 Naomi Thomas, 14 Non Evans, 15 Elen Evans. Replacements: 16 Amy Broadstock,
17 Gemma Hallett, 18 Hannah Torangi, 19 Nicola Evans, 20 Amy Day, 21 Rhian Williams, 22 Hannah Szigetvari.

Tries:
Conversions:
Penalties: 
Substitutions:

Referee: Nicky Innwood
Touch judge: Neil Howells       
Touch judge: Leighton James   

Ends…