By Jackie Finlan

England and France remained undefeated and Ireland earned its first bonus-point win of the tournament as Round 3 of the Women's Six Nations wrapped up this past weekend. Scotland and Italy have two more rounds of play to secure a victory.

A Tight One In Ireland

The most competitive game of the Women’s Six Nations Round 3 was Ireland's 35-12 win over Wales at Donnybrook on Sunday. The home side led 14-0 at halftime, as Ireland’s rolling maul set up a try from prop Leah Lyons, and just before the break flanker Claire Molloy finished off Sene Naoupu and Katie Fitzhenry’s tear to the try line. Both were converted by flyhalf Niamh Briggs. 

Wales then surged after the break, and prop Amy Evans powered over the line for a try converted by Elinor Snowsill. Ireland prop Lindsay Peat was yellow-carded and right away Wales put No. 8 Sioned Harries into the try zone to cut the lead to 14-12.

As the teams battled for momentum, Ireland did well to regain control when inside center Naoupu scored her first try of the tournament to give her team a 21-12 lead with Briggs’ conversion in the 51st minute.

The bonus point came 20 minutes later, when sub Hannah Tyrrell’s scored. Kim Flood converted both that try and a second score from Molloy, the Aon Player of the Match. Ireland improved to 2-1 with the victory and Wales fell to 1-2.

Scotland Put To The Sword

Scotland (0-3) certainly got the record-breaking attendance numbers it was looking for (3,278), but that’s about all that went well for the host inside Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium on Friday. England (3-0) earned a third straight bonus point in the 43-8 win.

Red Roses wing Danielle Waterman, earning her 80th cap, and prop Sarah Bern scored first, and flyhalf Katy Daley-Mclean’s two conversion gave the visitors a 14-point lead. Scotland then rallied with its first points of the night through No. 8 Jade Konkel’s try and scrumhalf Sarah Law’s penalty to bring the scoreline to 14-8.

But it didn’t get any closer than that, as England wing Charlotte Pearce scored her first international try and 18-year-old fullback Ellie Kildunne scored her fourth of the tournament. England entered the break up 26-8 and with a bonus point already secure.

In the second 40, Waterman and Pearce dotted down their second tries of the night, while outside Lagi Tuima scored her first try of the Women’s Six Nations. Mclean-Daley’s conversions topped off the seven-try performance.

“We did some really good things tonight, some of the contributions from the younger players were outstanding," England head coach Simon Middleton said. 

"At the same time we gave away some unnecessary penalties which led to yellow cards, so there is lots to look at, and learn from, going into our next game against France, which will be a really tough fixture but one we are looking forward to.”

Also of note, prop Rochelle Clark made her 135th appearance for England, making the 36-year-old the country’s most-capped player. She is fourth on the all-time worldwide list behind Richie McCaw (148), Brian O’Driscoll (141) and George Gregan (139). 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the England U20s won their first-ever game against France U20 in Lille, 27-20. Impressively, the entire 23-player roster are all active players in the Tyrrells Premier 15s league, England’s top domestic competition. The senior version of that will occur in round four of the Women’s Six Nations and to much anticipation. 

France Defense Strong Again

Saturday’s match between France (3-0) and Italy (0-3) also included benchmarks for the two participants. 

Corsica’s Stade Furiani played host to its first Women’s Six Nations match, and Italy suffered its biggest loss to France in the history of the tournament. Since 2007, Italy defeated France in 2013 (13-12) and 2015 (17-12) and also experienced its share of shutouts. But the 57-0 loss exceeded its worst result against France by 18 points.

France fullback Jessy Trémoulière was fantastic off the boot, converting seven of eight tries — two from the sideline — and adding a penalty. She also scored a first-half try for a total of 22 points. 

Wing Cyrielle Banet did her job as a finisher and accounted for two first-half tries, and when she necessitated a replacement for injury, reserve Marine Menager — sister to Romane — made good use of the field time with another two tries. 

After a dominating display from the backs, the French forwards took their turn in the try zone, using a rolling maul to put hooker AGathe Sochat across the line. With Tremouliere’s conversion, France took a 38-0 halftime lead.

The second half was a bit more even in terms of territory and possession, and while Italy held France off of the scoreboard until the final 10 minutes, the Azzure could not break the French defense for points. Instead, replacement Yanna Riovalen, Menager and scrumhalf Pauline Bourdon scored, and Tremouliere slotted two conversions.

Jackie Finlan is editor of The Rugby Breakdown and is a longtime rugby journalist writing about the women's game in the US and around the world.