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A sun-drenched round one of the Women’s Six Nations is over with England, France and Wales all coming away with bonus-point wins.
Records fell, underdogs put up a challenge and the favourites shook off some rust.
Here are four talking points from the opening round.
Will rustiness decide the title?
England head coach Simon Middleton said he was left frustrated by his side’s performance against Scotland despite the defending champions claiming a 57-5 win in Edinburgh.
Middleton described England as “rusty” as they made several handling errors in the game, looking much less slick than they did when they claimed back-to-back record wins against New Zealand in the autumn.
France also beat the Black Ferns twice last year but had to work hard for an opening Six Nations win against Italy as their attack only reached full fluidity late in the game.
With the title expected to be decided when Les Bleues host England on the final weekend, the side that best manages to shake off the rust by the end of April may be the one taking home the trophy.
Records fall as fans pour in
The Women’s Six Nations is being played in a separate window from the men’s tournament for the second year in a row and the move appears to be paying off.
Saturday’s opening game between Scotland and England attracted 3,988 fans to Edinburgh’s DAM Health Stadium – a new record for a Scotland Women home game.
Later that afternoon, Irish women’s rugby reached new heights too as 6,113 were there to see Wales win and set an attendance record for a standalone Women’s Six Nations game in Ireland.
Has a Welsh renaissance begun?
Wales are playing their first tournament since 12 of their squad were offered full-time contracts by the Welsh Rugby Union for the first time.
Many thought it would be too soon to see the effects of partial professionalism, but the increase in training and recovery time may have had a part to play in their late comeback against Ireland.
The visitors took the lead for the first time with Ireland down to 14 players in the final six minutes and scored again to eventually win 27-19.
After finishing last in the 2021 tournament, Wales have ended a seven-game losing streak in the Women’s Six Nations and will hope they can reach greater heights when they host Scotland in round two.
Scorelines do not reflect tough fixtures
It may be a platitude offered too often to losing sides, but the opening weekend was more competitive than the scorelines suggest.
Italy made France work hard for their 39-6 win in front of a vocal Grenoble crowd and the Azzurre might have come away with more if they had not repeatedly halted their own attacks with loose passes.
Likewise, Scotland put up a stern resistance against a fully professional England side loaded with talent.
Former Scotland forward Heather Lockhart agreed, saying on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Rugby Union Weekly: “Last year it was 52-10 [in this fixture] and this year it is 57-5 so on paper it is not looking like a massive improvement but in spells there were signs of massive improvement.
“Scotland will be disappointed not to have taken some chances but they upped the physicality in the second half and the line-out was outstanding.”
With such determined play from Scotland and Italy and a tight encounter between Ireland and Wales, a competitive and entertaining Women’s Six Nations is under way.
