Ioan Cunningham Tells Wales To Add Ruthless Streak To Their Grit

Sian Jones of Wales in action against England. Pic: Getty Images

Ioan Cunningham Tells Wales To Add Ruthless Streak To Their Grit

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By Hannah Blackwell

Ioan Cunningham has told his players they must become more ruthless after they showed signs of promise but were well beaten, 46-10 by England in the Women’s Six Nations.

It was a second successive defeat for Wales following their opening loss to Scotland, but given England’s position as the dominant force in the world after New Zealand, the head coach felt there was plenty to take from the performance.

Wales were outscored by eight tries to one at Ashton Gate, but Cunningham said: “We showed our fight, it was outstanding.

“The effort was unbelievable. But we had four entries in their 22 in the first half and came away with no points.

“We have to be more clinical and show more composure. You can have 100 phases but it’s about crossing the line.

“Fair play to England they score quickly and the scoreboard can get away from you. To go to the next level we have to take opportunities. It was a huge crowd, it was awesome and that’s the stage we want to play on.”

England head coach John Mitchell said: “It was a good performance and we worked our way into each half.

“The variety of the scoring was positive and there is still a lot more growth to come. I think we can be more urgent and continue to improve our skillset under pressure.

“What I liked today is we had pressure for long periods of time and executed very well. We want to be quicker and build pressure on teams, we can do that in a number of ways.

“We continue creating competition in the group which is lucky from my point of view and it makes my life difficult for selection.”

The Red Roses blossomed as the game progressed with a huge defensive effort by Wales taking its toll as England carved Wales open to record their second maximum haul of the campaign.

England had already grabbed their four-try bonus point by halftime with Hannah Jones’ side facing a 24-3 deficit at the break.

Despite the heavy score-line, Wales were left to rue several scoring opportunities in the first half which would have kept some pressure on the scoreboard.

England showed seven changes in a side that won handsomely against Italy on the opening weekend while Ioan Cunningham felt the need to make eight after a defeat to Scotland at Cardiff Arms Park.

Wales opened the scoring in the 6th minute when Lleucu George banged over a short range penalty but England struck back with their very first opportunity.

Abbie Dow outstripped the Welsh cover defence on the outside edge before rampaging prop Maud Muir charged over from close range. Holly Aitcheson’s conversion hit the posts which gave the hosts a 5-3 lead.

The danger signs were there when second row Zoe Aldcroft scored England’s second try on her 50th cap as England began to show their class. Aitcheson’s conversion put England 12-3 ahead after 16 minutes.

Wales’ lineout went through a couple of blips to hand possession back to England and Hannah Jones’ side were unable to convert pressure into points when they worked their way deep inside England’s 22.

England made them pay when Wales lost the ball and Megan Jones sliced through and kicked downfield. The home side quickly went through the phases and a back peddling Welsh defence couldn’t stop Hannah Botterman from diving over on her home ground. Aitcheson’s conversion put England 19-3 ahead and left Wales facing a mountain to climb.

Wales carried hard for several phases and had their noses within the England tryline, but again they gave away possession and England swept downfield. Wales managed to hold them out until after time went into the red and hooker Lark Atkin-Davies went over to rack up the bonus point for England and fully in control 24-3 at the break.

Ellie Kildunne went over in the corner and moments later Abby Dow scored in the opposite corner as England began to run riot.

An injection of new blood from the bench spurred Wales on and replacement scrum half Keira Bevan sniped from a quick tap to score Wales’ first try. Lleucu George converted but that was as good as it got for Wales.

Rosie Galligan added to England’s tally before  Killdunne went over for fourth try in campaign out wide.

Wales finished strongly but were unable to cross the whitewash again as England confirmed their title credentials with a professional performance.

 

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