2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations Matchday 1 Roundup

Wales stole the show with a shock away win in Ireland, whilst favourites England and France got off to a solid start in the 2022 Women’s Six Nations.

Following a dramatic men’s Six Nations that saw thrills, spills and upsets, the Women now take centre stage in what is a huge tournament building up to this year’s World Cup.

Here is an overview of the action from Week 1:

Scotland 5-57 England

The 2022 Women’s Six Nations got underway with a lunchtime hammering by England away to Scotland at the DAM Health Edinburgh Rugby Stadium.

Simon Middleton’s side got off to the ideal start as they showed their carrying strength with ball in hand. Tries from Marlie Packer and Poppy Cleall will have had the Scottish support fearing the worst as the World No.1 side took an early 14-0 lead.

However, the hosts drew themselves back into the game on the 15-minute mark as some quick handling allowed Chloe Rollie to score in the corner.

Six minutes later, a flurry of three scores in eight minutes all but saw the contest off as tries from Heather Cowell, Abigail Dow and a second from Packer saw the English lead stretch to 26 points.

Following this, a stagnant period in the game ensued before a terrific offload from Sarah Bern found Leanne Infante to end the half on a high.

It was another burst of tries in a short space of time in the second half that made the lease even more handsome for the visitors, with the attacking prowess of the English side shining through as they ticked over 4000 points in the completion since it was reverted to the Six Nations in 2002. Additionally, a symbol of just how dominant England have been over the years is that this total is over 1500 points more than any of their Six Nations rivals.

Scotland huffed and puffed for a consolation late on, but the England defence held firm for a destructive opening day performance.

In truth, a heavy scoreline is to be expected when Scotland play England. Whilst the men’s games provide some nip and tuck classics, England are a dominant force in women’s rugby and Scotland are still developing the women’s game. As such, there is still a sizeable gulf in quality between the two sides.

For Scotland, they’ll have to take the positives and regroup prior to a trip to Wales. The Scots have good memories of playing Wales of late, beating them in the 5th placed placement match in the shortened 2021 tournament, and finishing above them in the 2020 tournament.

England will make the trip to Italy as they look to win their 17th successive international.

Ireland 19-27 Wales

After disappointment for the Welsh men both at Senior and U20 level, the Women brought some joy back to Welsh rugby with a hard-fought victory in Ireland.

The hosts took the lead thanks to some magic from the wing in the form of Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe who galloped past multiple Welsh tacklers to score the opener in the corner.

However, the Welsh maul proved prudent against the hosts, with Carys Phillips taking advantage to reduce her side’s arrears.

It did not take long for Ireland to re-establish their lead after the ball was cleverly recycled with an offload finding Linda Djougang to power over the gain line.

The contest continued to prove nip and tuck, with Wales once again hitting back as Jasmine Joyce evaded a Kayleigh Powell tackle to make it a one-score game.

Ioan Cunningham’s Welsh Dragons were firmly on top after this score and looked as though they had tipped the tide in their favour. That was until Stacey Flood scored against the run of play following a failed tackle on the line. At this stage, the score was 19-10, and such a score could have knocked the stuffing from a lesser side, but Wales showed resilience and once again fought back, this time to tip the scale on their side.

A brace of tries for replacement prop Donna Rose gave Wales the initiative, and the Saracens player burrowed under for her second try shortly after.

With a narrow deficit going into the game’s closing moments, Ireland tried to find the perfect crescendo for a late win, but the exuberance in their attempts to turnover and score left the defence vulnerable.

Hannah Jones found the gaps and ultimately sealed Wales’ first Six Nations victory since 2019.

Whilst Ireland took control of the game in the first half, a dogged second half from the Welsh side mixed with some poor Irish defence resulted in the game slipping away from the hosts.

Ireland will have a task on their hands to avoid starting the Six Nations 0-2 as they face a tough trip to face France in a week’s time.

On the flip side, Wales will face a crunch game with Scotland in Cardiff to start their campaign in the best possible manner.

France 39-6 Italy

The French will look to replicate the achievements of their male counterparts who emerged Grand Slam Champions just one week ago and started their campaign in the best possible way with a convincing home win over the Italians.

In the opening moments of the contest, the two sides exchanged penalties before Annick Hayraud’s side took the game by the scruff off the neck.

It would start with Madoussou Fall powering over under the sticks before Emeline Gros dummied to do the same, exposing the soft underbelly of the Italian defence.

Michela Silari would go on to add another penalty score for the visitors to keep them hanging on by the coattails.

Italy would go on to huff and puff in attempts to break the French game line, but they left themselves exposed at the ruck and afforded France key turnovers.

Subsequently, the French would take advantage as they capitalised on Italy’s shortage of numbers off the quick tap and Lea Murie would score in the corner.

Whilst the scoreline was comfortable for France at 25-6, Italy would continue to prod and try and break down the French defence piece by piece.

Despite this, France would avoid the concession of a try and subsequently would go on and grab the bonus point thanks to yet more hard work at the ruck that presented the opportunity for Emilie Boulard to score the fourth try of the game for her side. Moments later, Chloe Jacquet would add a fifth to put the icing on an excellent French performance.

France will remain in Grenoble heading into Week 2 as they will next welcome Ireland off the back of their defeat against Wales. Hayraud’s side are odds on to be the closest challengers to the imperious England. They will hope to keep themselves healthy and unbeaten and set up a huge play-off clash with England in Grenoble on Matchday 5.

Italy will face arguably the toughest test of their campaign as they welcome the world number one side to Parma as they’ll host England.

The opening week of the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations did not fail to impress, and now with a bigger platform than ever, the tournament will be getting the exposure it deserves. Additionally, the Wales win in Ireland will have raised eyebrows, and the tournament is nicely poised headed into Week 2.

Matchday 2 fixtures:

Saturday 2nd April 2022-

France v Ireland – Kick Off 2:15pm BST

Wales v Scotland – Kick Off 4:45pm BST

Sunday 3rd April 2022-

Italy v England – Kick Off 3:00pm BST

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