England 58-7 Scotland: Co-captain Sarah Hunter retires in style back in Newcastle as Red Roses’ Six Nations title defense begins with ruthless 10-try win at Kingston Park
- England’s commanding win over Scotland opened their Six Nations campaign
- The match was a special send-off for co-captain Sarah Hunter at Kingston Park
- Hunter said he wanted to ‘savour every moment’ as England scored ten tries
Sarah Hunter retired in style on Saturday night as England’s Six Nations title defense got off to a flying start with a ruthless 58-7 victory over Scotland.
The game marked a special occasion for co-captain Hunter, who signed off his rugby career with a fine win on home ground at Kingston Park, where England easily secured the bonus point.
‘It’s very special, I can’t think of a better way to end my career,’ Hunter said. ‘I just want to savor the moment.’
A quickfire second-half hat-trick from co-captain Marlie Packer capped a disappointing afternoon for the Scots. Hunter, who hails from North Shields, led the way for Newcastle and they took the lead on nine minutes after pressure on the Scottish goal-line allowed Claudia MacDonald to slip through to fire over.
Scotland had a chance to pull one back with a fantastic attack on England’s goal-line and Emma Orr came agonizingly close to scoring, but she grounded the ball just wide as the hosts cleared .
Sarah Hunter has hailed a ‘special’ occasion where she signed off from rugby at Kingston Park
England opened their Women’s Six Nations campaign with a comprehensive win over Scotland
Hunter said he wanted to ‘savour every moment’ of England’s bonus point win at Newcastle
England stretched Scotland with some quick passing which allowed hooker Amy Cokayne to finish off another great team move in the 18th minute and MacDonald soon got her second with an incredible sprint from the halfway line, chasing the Scottish defense to finish in the left corner.
Tatyana Heard scored her first Red Roses try after weaving past two Scotland defenders in the 27th minute and a driving maul from the line-out allowed Cokayne to grab her second before the break.
England picked up where they left off after the break when Poppy Cleall crashed over the line and Abby Dow brilliantly fed the ball to Sadia Kabeya, who scored her seventh try of the afternoon.
Packer got in on the act as the Red Roses used the driving maul three times flawlessly for the co-captain to score his impressive hat-trick, with all three of his tries coming in just 10 minutes of each.
Scotland then found a consolation in the closing stages, with Chloe Rollie putting points on the board for the visitors with a late try.
