England v Scotland: Score and latest Women's Six Nations updates

Telegraph

19-04-2025

19 April 2025 4:19pm
4:19PM
Previous encounters
2024: Scotland 0-46 England
2023: England 58-7 Scotland
2022: Scotland 5-57 England
2021: England 52-10 Scotland
2020: Scotland 0-53 England
2019: England 80-0 Scotland
2018: Scotland 8-43 England
4:14PM
Injuries for the visitors
It's not that this match is a foregone conclusion but... England are on a 23-match winning streak against Scotland, who are missing a number of key personnel for today's match. Rachel Malcolm, their experienced captain, and Leia Brebner-Holden, their first-choice scrum-half, are both out with concussion. Alex Stewart and Hollie Cunningham are also unavailable due to unspecified injuries, meaning Scotland's bench is looking abnormally light on experience.
Bryan Easson, the Scotland head coach, has opted for 5-3 split today - having fielded 6-2 splits in each of the last three rounds - but his unhelpfully long injury list has forced him to have a major rethink. Hartpury back-row Gemma Bell, who only joined Scotland's camp a few days ago, is one of three uncapped players on the bench. To put Scotland's lack of experience into context, Sarah Bern, Abbie Ward and Marlie Packer each have more caps individually than Scotland's entire bench combined.
4:09PM
Scotland's results and fixtures
Scotland 24-21 Wales
France 38-15 Scotland
Scotland 17-25 Italy
England vs Scotland (today)
Scotland vs Ireland (next weekend)
4:04PM
Visitors in the house
In the building 🏟️ #AsOne pic.twitter.com/naQosln7aC
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) April 19, 2025
4:01PM
England's results and fixtures in this Six Nations
England 38-5 Italy
Wales 12-67 England
Ireland 5-49 England
England vs Scotland (today)
England vs France (next weekend)
3:55PM
Current table
France- 19 points (4 games)
England- 15 points (3 games)
Ireland- 5 points (3 games)
Italy- 5 points (4 games)
Scotland- 4 points (3 games)
Wales- 1 point (3 games)
3:49PM
Hosts arrive
What a welcome in Leicester 😍 #ENGvSCO #GuinnessW6N pic.twitter.com/ZAA5FWIJby
— Red Roses (@RedRosesRugby) April 19, 2025
3:42PM
Teams
England starting XV: Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins); Abby Dow (Ealing Trailfinders), Megan Jones (Leicester Tigers), Jade Shekells (Gloucester-Hartpury), Claudia MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs); Holly Aitchison (Bristol Bears), Lucy Packer (Harlequins); Kelsey Clifford (Saracens), Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears), Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears), Rosie Galligan (Saracens), Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears), Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, captain), Marlie Packer (Saracens), Maddie Feaunati (Exeter Chiefs).
Replacements: May Campbell (Saracens), Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears), Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury), Morwenna Talling (Sale Sharks), Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury), Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury), Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning), Emily Scarratt (Loughborough Lightning).
Scotland starting XV: Chloe Rollie (Ealing Trailfinders); Rhona Lloyd (Stade Bordelais), Emma Orr (Bristol Bears), Lisa Thomson (Ealing Trailfinders), Francesca McGhie (Leicester Tigers); Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning, captain), Caity Mattinson (Ealing Trailfinders); Anne Young (Loughborough Lightning), Lana Skeldon (Bristol Bears), Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears), Becky Boyd (Loughborough Lightning), Sarah Bonar (Harlequins), Evie Gallagher (Bristol Bears), Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier), Jade Konkel (Harlequins).
Replacements: Elis Martin (Loughborough Lightning), Leah Bartlett (Leicester Tigers), Molly Poolman (Edinburgh), Adelle Ferrie (Edinburgh), Gemma Bell (Gloucester-Hartpury), Rhea Clarke (Edinburgh Rugby), Rachel Philipps (Sale Sharks), Lucia Scott (Gloucester-Hartpury).
3:36PM
Match preview
England host Scotland at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in round four of the Women's Six Nations. England are aiming for a seventh successive title and have won three from three so far with bonus points secured in all three games. They began their campaign with a 38-5 home win over Italy before thrashing Wales 12-67 in Cardiff on matchday two. In game three they won 5-49 over in Ireland to put them at the top of the standings, one point ahead of France. Their winning run now spans 23 games and they have won 53 of their last 54 Test matches, with their last defeat coming in the 2022 World Cup final against New Zealand.
With a home World Cup on the horizon later this year, every game takes on added importance not only in attempting to win yet another Six Nations title but also acting as preparation for the biggest prize. Abbie Ward, who starts for England this afternoon, has spoken this week about the pressure on England every time they go out to play.
'We know teams will always step up against us to knock us off. We are happy with that and take it in our stride,' Ward told BBC's Rugby Union Weekly.
'England will always have pressure. It is not going anywhere. Success is not about results or points difference, it is about the performance. It is also about team cohesion. We have had some good results but also some sticky performances. We want to keep growing that team cohesion and the ability to grow our game plan.'
Former England captain Marlie Packer, who was replaced as captain by Zoe Aldcroft at the start of the year, comes back into the team today and Ward has been singing the praises of the Saracens forward.
'Marlie is a fantastic leader and always will be, whether she is wearing the armband or not,' said Ward. 'She was always an incredible leader before, she has stepped up so naturally, nothing has changed. Whether she is playing or not, Marlie is always inputting. She is always helping the squad get better. Even if she is not on the pitch, she brings her experience, that energy and that ferocity, but she also has this other side where she brings a calmness to the squad. She has been in tough games, she has been on the sides of huge wins and also losses. That is just invaluable to us. When she brings that ferocity, that energy, the aggression that we need, we feed off [that] as a team.'
Meanwhile Scotland are in fifth, with just one win to their name after three games. They won their opening game against Wales but have fallen to back-to-back defeats against France and Italy in their next two games. Their head coach Bryan Easson is aware of just how big a challenge is facing his side today.
'England have the ability to go through you physically, they also have the ability to go round you,' said Easson. 'They can suffocate you defensively. They have such a good team, one to 15, or should I say one to 40. No matter what changes they make, they have world class players coming in. It is a huge task but one we are certainly up for. We were really disappointed with our performance against Italy so this is an opportunity to put that to bed and for this group to show the progress we have made.'
England have won all 23 Six Nations meetings with Scotland, the past five encounters settled by an aggregate score of 266-22. Last year England won 48-0 in Edinburgh. It appears things are destined for a Grand Slam-decider against France at Allianz Stadium next weekend but England need to make sure they get the job done today to set that up.