Scotland’s all-amateur women were overwhelmed 63-0 by their English counterparts at Rubislaw, Aberdeen, yesterday. A sizeable crowd turned up to witness a first-class game of rugby in which the professional English side held most of the aces to run out convincing winners.
England were impressive in putting behind them the disappointment of losing their six nations opener against France in Paris.
Eleven touchdowns showed their supremacy and it could have been more had Scotland not tackled as though their lives depended on it.
Winger Annabel Sergeant typified the attitude of the Scots, regularly nailing her opposite number Claire Allan just when the winger looked set to skin the home defence.
In the end, sheer weight of numbers allied to good organisation proved too much for the brave home Scots.
But Scotland will take some postitives into their next game in the tournament in two weeks when they travel to Italy.
The Scots had started brightly, though the nearest they came to scoring was in 21 minutes when scrum half Louise Dalgliesh hit a post with a penalty.
By that time, England had scored two tries before going on to take control of the match with three further touchdowns to lead 29-0 at half-time.
Their excellent captain and stand off Lucy McLean led her line with flair, helping to set up tries for Joanne McGilchrist, Amber Reed, Lydia Thomson, Claire Purdy and Sarah Hunter.
She added two conversions for good measure and deservedly collected the woman-of-the-match accolade.
McLean scored a try of her own to open the second half as England cut loose, adding a further five, two of which were again converted by McLean.
Under a second-half onslaught, the homesters stuck to the task, determinedly tackling like demons to remind the maurading white shirts that they were in a game.
Scotland will have learned much from the game, not least getting to the breakdown before the opposition can make capital.
The English were impressive in taking their chances and grew in confidence as the game progressed.
It enabled replacement Margaret Alphonsi to score the try of the game after the ball had passed through numerous hands.
Touchdowns for Emily Scarratt, Claire Allan, Sophie Hemming and Rebecca Essex rang down the curtain on an outstanding performance.
Scotland can, however, be proud of their part in helping to take away the nasty taste of defeat left over from Saturday’s sorry show at Murrayfield.