Plenty more to come from England, says head coach John Mitchell

By Sports Desk March 30, 2024

England head coach John Mitchell believes there is “massive growth” left in the Red Roses after they completed a second successive Guinness Six Nations bonus-point victory.

A 46-10 triumph over Wales at Ashton Gate means England top the table with maximum points ahead of their clash against Scotland next month.

As in a runaway win against opening Six Nations opponents Italy, England scored eight tries. And they did it in front of a 19,700 crowd, which was the biggest home attendance for a Red Roses game away from Twickenham.

Full-back Ellie Kildunne led the way with two tries, while there were also touchdowns for Hannah Botterman, Maud Muir, Abby Dow, Lark Atkin-Davies, Zoe Aldcroft and Rosie Galligan.

Fly-half Holly Aitchison kicked three conversions, while Wales posted a consolation try from replacement Keira Bevan and Lleucu George landed a conversion and penalty.

“The game doesn’t always go for you in attack, so you have got to be good on the other side of the ball,” Mitchell said. “The start is the maul defence and we are making good strides.

“To be a really good team and for this team to grow we need to find different ways to score and make sure we can play the game in different ways.

“We are trying to be very clear on our strategy. They built pressure in both halves and I think we left a couple (of tries) out there as well. I still think there is massive growth left in us.”

England captain Marlie Packer added: “We put a spotlight on ourselves. We want to play with tempo and put an exciting brand of rugby out on the pitch.

“Our set-piece was phenomenal, which gave us really good front-foot ball to play.

“We want to let the handbrake off and play. The ball will go down at some points in the game because of how we are trying to play, but hopefully it is exciting rugby.

“We had 19,000 fans here today and we want them to keep coming back.”

For Wales, it was a second successive Six Nations defeat after losing 20-18 to Scotland, but head coach Ioan Cunningham was in upbeat mood.

“I am very encouraged. If I am honest, I thought we left four or five tries out on the field today,” he said.

“It is showing what we can do. It is just about being a bit more clinical.

“I am so proud of the effort. We have just got to balance that up with having that composure at the right time and once that clicks we will be a tough team to stop.”

Related items

  • 'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton 'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton

    Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.

    That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.

    Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.

    A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.

    But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.

    "The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.

    "Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.

    "You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.

    "There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."

     

  • Wales must 'show courage and front up' against South Africa, says Gatland Wales must 'show courage and front up' against South Africa, says Gatland

    Warren Gatland has urged Wales to "show real courage and front up" in their final Autumn Nations clash against South Africa.

    Gatland's side bring the curtain down on a disappointing year when they welcome the reigning world champions to the Principality Stadium on Saturday. 

    Wales have lost an unprecedented 11 straight Tests, and could go an entire calendar year without tasting success for the first time since 1937.

    Gatland has made four changes from last weekend's 52-20 defeat to Australia, with Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer, Christ Tshiunza and Taine Plumtree all coming into the starting XV.

    Gareth Anscombe, Aaron Wainwright and Cameron Winnett drop out of the squad, while Adam Beard misses out through injury.

    And Gatland wants his players to demonstrate fighting spirit against the Springboks.

    "Last week's result hurts, and we are just as disappointed by it as the fans," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference.

    "Our focus now is on training and preparing well for our final game of this Autumn Nations Series.

    "There were good elements that we can definitely build on going into Saturday, but we have to improve our accuracy.

    "We know what a quality side South Africa are and the physicality they bring. This week, we need to show real courage and front up against the world champions."

  • Wales promotion 'hasn't sunk in' for Bellamy after 4-1 Iceland win Wales promotion 'hasn't sunk in' for Bellamy after 4-1 Iceland win

    Wales secured promotion to League A after beating Iceland 4-1 at home in their final Nations League group match, having gone a goal down early on.

    Their victory, alongside a 3-1 defeat for Turkiye away to Montenegro, means that Craig Bellamy's side topped their group by a point.

    "The feeling hasn't quite sunk in yet, but it's been a real positive camp Whatever the result of this game, it's just been a positive camp," said Bellamy after the match.

    "The targets we set right from the start, I feel we've been able to achieve."

    Wales started the day knowing they needed to win and for results to go their way to top the group, but went a goal down after seven minutes after Andri Gudjohnsen followed up from a Danny Ward save.

    It was the first goal Wales had conceded at home in 321 minutes and the first time they had been behind under Bellamy, but they responded well. The hosts managed to control the rest of the half, with Lewis Cullen scoring twice in the final 15 minutes of the first period.

    The determination of his team to stick to the plan was something that pleased Bellamy immensely.

    "There were one or two tests today that I feel we've been able to progress [through]. If they had happened one or two games ago, we might not have been able to.

    "Where we're at, you go 1-0 down in the first few minutes and you get a performance like that.

    "Then after that, when the crowd get a little bit edgy and try to force things for us... No, no. We keep the ball because we believe that's going to benefit us, and the players were able to do that."

    In the second half, Wales were able to dominate and bagged goals from Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson to make things more comfortable.

    "I thought we took control of the tempo of the game and we're a good team if we're able to do that," said Bellamy.

    On promotion itself, the Wales manager could not overstate the importance of being able to mix with the biggest teams in international football in Europe.

    "For where we want to be and where we want to go, it's huge. It's so important for us," he said.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.