England Women 68 v 5 Italy Women Six Nations
By HQ
April 5 2023
Four tries from Abby Dow helped the Red Roses topple Italy 68-5 in the second round of the Six Nations.
In front of 12,947 fans at Northampton's Franklin's Gardens, Dow's efforts were in addition to a Jess Breach hat-trick, two from Claudia MacDonald and Marlie Packer and one for Tatyana Heard, that saw off a persistent Italy side, whose only points came via Sara Tounesi.
Breach struck inside the opening two minutes, after England stretched the Italian defence from touchline to touchline - Aitchison conducting the pace of play before providing the miss-pass assist. The fly-half was also on hand to convert the effort making it 7-0.
Italy’s response was immediate however, as they forced a penalty from the restart and kicked into the corner. Second row Tounesi powered over the hosts' line off the back of a dominant five-metre rolling maul cutting the deficit to two.