England continued their winning run in the Women’s Six Nations with a convincing 69-0 win over Ireland on Sunday in front of a record crowd.
Lark Davies, Lydia Thompson, Poppy Cleall and Ellie Kildunne bagged two tries each while Sarah Bern, Marlie Packer and Hannah Botterman also crossed the line for England.
– Clargo: How Wales women joined rugby’s pro ranks
The Test match was played at Leicester’s Welford Road in front of 15,836 fans — a new record for a women’s rugby match in England.
The previous record of 14,689 was only set two weeks ago at Kingsholm in England’s third round clash with Wales. The number was just shy of the world record attendance of a women’s rugby international, which stands at 17,440.
𝘼 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚🙌
Another new #RedRoses home @Womens6Nations attendance record.
Thank you for your support!#ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/BhsP18MtMr
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) April 24, 2022
It was also a special day for England’s Emily Scarratt who earned her 100th Test cap.
Scarratt, 32, is the leading Red Roses points scorer and was named World Rugby’s Women’s Player of the Year in 2019.
England are on track to claim a fourth successive Six Nations title but face their toughest challenge yet when they travel to France on April 30, with both teams level on points going into the final round.
Elsewhere, Scotland slipped to a disappointing 20-13 defeat at the hands of Italy in Parma on Saturday.
Emma Wassell’s first-half try helped Scotland into a 10-3 lead before the break but the hosts battled back with second-half tries from Melissa Bettoni and Silvia Turani.
The result sees Scotland slip to the bottom of the Six Nations table without a win in their four matches.