England’s women made history by completing their own Six Nations Grand Slam in Limerick on Friday night.

Their 46-3 victory against Ireland completed the clean sweep after wins against France, Wales, Spain and Scotland.

And England fielded their youngest-ever player when 18-year-old Bath schoolgirl Danielle Waterman replaced Susie Appleby at scrum half after 72 minutes. 

Head Coach Geoff Richards said: "We are absolutely delighted about winning the 2003 Six Nations Championships. Winning all of our games has proven to the rugby world that we are a dominant force within women's rugby.  

“Our win against Ireland was not an easy one and the Irish team came out with nothing to lose. They hit us hard and in difficult and wet conditions the English team once again showed great defensive work.” 

Despite being without several players on Sevens duty in Hong Kong, England picked up where they left off, scoring eight tries, with Richards singling out Richmond full back Chris Diver for praise. 

“Chris has had a fantastic 6 Nations and showed to her critics she can perform well at both international and club level throughout the year,” said Richards. 

England captain Maxine Edwards said: "It has been an honour to lead the team for the 6 Nations Championships. As a first season in charge of the captaincy it has been made easier by the dominance of the forwards which has provided a solid platform from which the backs can show their strength. 

"This game was a hard one for the team and we had to concentrate for the whole 80 minutes. Ireland never gave up and put us under a lot of pressure 

"It was great to see Danielle Waterman come on for Susie Appleby at scrum half in the second half. She is the youngest England player at 18 years and will learn a lot from this game. She is a great talent and shows that the team has great depth.” 

Wasps wings Sue Day and Sarah Marsh each scored two tries with the other touchdowns coming from Diver, Appleby (Clifton), Nicki Jupp (Richmond) and Georgia Stevens (Clifton). Karen Andrew (Saracens) kicked two conversions and Shelley Rae (Wasps) one.