In an historic encounter at Twickenham on Sunday, Simon Middleton’s England Women had too much power up front for the Barbarians, five tries from the pack paving the way for a 40-14 victory.
The final outcome came as no great surprise given that Middleton’s side are all full-time professionals nowadays, and the result was effectively secured by half-time with England leading 28-0.
England were certainly pragmatic on the day, with the four first half tries all coming via the pack from close range.
However, as they became a little more used to playing with each other perhaps, the Barbarians grew into the game and were a more competitive outfit after the break, scoring two good tries from Gloucester-Hartpury’s Millie Wood and New Zealand’s Fiao’o Fa’amausili.
[caption id="attachment_27095" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Millie Wood on her way to the line (c) Getty Images[/caption]
However, England finished the stronger and closed out the win with tries from Lark Davies and Gloucester-Hartpury’s Kelly Smith, who had seen an earlier try chalked off for a forward pass.
From a Gloucester-Hartpury perspective, Zoe Aldcroft was a powerful presence up front for England and set up a try with a nice break and offload, while Kelly Smith was a constant threat out wide. Tatyana Heard was a late replacement for the Red Roses and made one nice break in a tidy overall contribution.
Ceri Large was introduced late on for the Barbarians, but the Gloucester-Hartpury highlight was definitely Millie Wood’s second-half try.
The final outcome came as no great surprise given that Middleton’s side are all full-time professionals nowadays, and the result was effectively secured by half-time with England leading 28-0.
England were certainly pragmatic on the day, with the four first half tries all coming via the pack from close range.
However, as they became a little more used to playing with each other perhaps, the Barbarians grew into the game and were a more competitive outfit after the break, scoring two good tries from Gloucester-Hartpury’s Millie Wood and New Zealand’s Fiao’o Fa’amausili.
[caption id="attachment_27095" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Millie Wood on her way to the line (c) Getty Images[/caption]However, England finished the stronger and closed out the win with tries from Lark Davies and Gloucester-Hartpury’s Kelly Smith, who had seen an earlier try chalked off for a forward pass.
From a Gloucester-Hartpury perspective, Zoe Aldcroft was a powerful presence up front for England and set up a try with a nice break and offload, while Kelly Smith was a constant threat out wide. Tatyana Heard was a late replacement for the Red Roses and made one nice break in a tidy overall contribution.
Ceri Large was introduced late on for the Barbarians, but the Gloucester-Hartpury highlight was definitely Millie Wood’s second-half try.
