By Hannah Blackwell
Former Wales international Rachel Taylor admits Wales have some way to go before they can match the quality of Grand Slam champions England.
Taylor watched as Wales were humbled again by the Red Roses who won their TikTok Women’s Six Nations clash, 59-3 at Cardiff Arms Park.
Wales had won their opening two games against Ireland and Scotland and were seeking a Triple Crown, but they were blown away by England, who scored nine tries through nine different players.
It was the sixth successive time that Wales have conceded over 50 points when they have gone toe-to-toe with the old enemy, a defeat made more sobering as it came after the heady celebrations of the two previous rounds and the huge 8,862 record crowd.
“It’s massively disappointing, we can’t shy away from that,” said Taylor.
“It’s a real sign of the quality of England at the moment.
“It’s those tries just before half-time and the re-stamping of that authority as soon as the second half starts.
https://twitter.com/BBCSportWales/status/1435143296544772096?s=20
“That is the sign real quality team, to weather that storm and keep on scoring as they did in the second half in that manner, is really impressive.”
Wales gave England by far their sternest test of the tournament so far in the opening half an hour, dominating possession and territory and winning key physical battles on both sides of the ball.
But in the end, England, the World Cup runners-up and Six Nations champions in each of the last four years, proved their experience and know-how as they cruised to the 50-point mark in the second half.
Despite the result, Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham insisted there will be no lasting damage on morale in his squad.
He said: “I don’t think it was traumatic, I think there was enough to take out of it for sure.
“You look at that first half and definitely the first 30 minutes, I thought we had physical dominance and territorial dominance. But we had three entries into the 22 and we had three points and that is the difference at this level.
“Then there are Championship moments from them, and suddenly we go from conceding two tries to three tries before half-time. It is just those moments, where the growth in the group has been massive and we are definitely improving.
“It is a mixture of making sure we stay calm in the moment and physically as well. There is still work to do with us to keep working hard to become better athletes so we can win races in the game and win those key moments.
Just the 9 tries for England as they win 59-3 against Wales during the Women's Six Nations at Cardiff Arms Park @PA @Alamy_Editorial @CanonUKandIE @EnglandRugby #womensrugby #SixNations pic.twitter.com/dvL0agu5Sg
— steven paston (@StevenPaston) April 16, 2023
“Looking at how England have been performing in their two most recent games and you look at the half-time score here, that is probably the closest half-time score they have had.
“At half-time, we were in a very positive position, regarding staying on top and keeping possession and probably the scoreline did not reflect the effort of some of the opportunities we did create.
“I don’t think it will take much, as Hannah (Jones, captain) said, we are a tight group, we will look at the positives from this, get excited for the challenge.
“France away is going to be an awesome atmosphere and something we are going to thrive on.
“We have got to be able to back up tough Test matches with another one that is seven days away and that is the way we want to be.”
https://twitter.com/BBCSportWales/status/1647285420399394817?s=20
England head coach Simon Middleton said: “Massive credit to Wales for that first 25-30 minutes, they attacked us in every quarter.
“They attacked the breakdown, they came at us in defence, they were good with the ball in hand and had us under massive pressure.
“At that point you’re thinking this is going to be a high quality Test match all the way through, but then credit to our team.
“I thought we were brilliant today, how we handled the pressure, how we problem-solved and some of the attacking stuff we showed was outstanding.”
