Kildunne shines as England run in 11 tries against Wales
03/29/2025 03:16 PM
MATCH REPORT: England continued their Six Nations dominance, beating Wales 67-12 at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
England outscored hosts Wales by 11 tries to two in the Round Two clash.
After such a rousing rendition of the anthem, Wales were hard-pressed not to begin the match in inspired fashion, attacking down both wings to stress-test the feted English defence.
Wales even forced England into an error in the visitors' in-goal area, flyhalf Zoe Harrison dropping the ball as she sought to make a clearance kick. From there, Wales had a 5m scrum, and a second pick-and-go was grounded by tighthead Jenni Scoble to the delight of the majority of this record-breaking crowd of 21,186 people.
Scrumhalf Keira Bevan converted for a 7-0 lead within the opening ten minutes.
The joy was short-lived for Wales when, after forcing wing Lisa Neumann into touch, the Red Roses swiftly won their lineout ball and number eight Maddie Feaunati galloped away untouched for a try. Harrison converted to level the scores.
A matter of minutes later it was sidestepping outside centre Megan Jones running in a try without a finger laid on her, with Harrison adding the extras again.
The 20-minute mark was coming into view when England overthrew their lineout on Wales' 5m line. It didn't affect the outcome for them, however, as the ball eventually found Sarah Bern, the tighthead touching down under the posts.
Feaunati then underlined her status as one of the early contenders as England's standout players of the campaign when she went over for her second try of the match – Abby Dow having just been disallowed one of her own for a forward pass. Harrison kicked her third conversion, and the Red Roses were beginning to flex their muscles: 7-26.
Fullback Ellie Kildunne was next on the scoreboard, celebrating her 50th cap with a short, scorching effort down the left wing that completely evaded Neumann. The conversion from Harrison was good: 7-33.
It didn't take long for the roving Kildunne to repeat the feat, this time on the opposite wing. Harrison wasn't, but it was only down to the left upright that her conversion attempt failed.
Kildunne had barely caught her breath when she scored the most impressive of her hat-trick of tries thus far: outsprinting the Welsh defence to gather a kick-behind from Jess Breach.
Despite England getting a huge shove on Wales' scrum just outside the visitors' 22, the home side broke from the back and up the left, where wing Carys Cox passed back inside for blindside Kate Williams to score a try that got the Welsh fans on their feet.
The Red Roses then went beyond the 50-point mark when replacement Abi Burton, on for her debut and whose journey to this point has been nothing short of remarkable, burst over for a converted try: 12-55.
It was then Dow's turn again to further burnish the English score, although the post once again proved would-be converter Harrison's enemy: 12-60.
Abby Dow would have been disappointed not to have scored for an hour, such is her prolific strike rate, but the winger atoned for that leading up to the final ten minutes, taking a wonderful cross-field kick from Harrison in acres of space to touch down: 12-48.
The Red Roses then went beyond the 50-point mark when replacement Abi Burton, on for her debut and whose journey to this point has been nothing short of remarkable, burst over for a converted try: 12-55.
It was then Dow's turn again to further burnish the English score, although the post once again proved would-be converter Harrison's enemy: 12-60.
Burton was making the most of her time on the pitch, and moments before the final whistle had crossed for her second try to seal a truly dominant performance in front of a lively audience.
This was England's 31st consecutive win in the Championship, and they were good for it.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Tries: Scoble, Williams
Con: Bevan
For England:
Tries: Feaunati 2, Jones, Bern, Kildunne 3, Dow 2, Burton 2
Cons: Harrison 6
Teams
Wales: 15 Jasmine Joyce, 14 Lisa Neumann, 13 Hannah Jones (captain), 12 Kayleigh Powell, 11 Carys Cox, 10 Lleucu George, 9 Keira Bevan, 8 Georgia Evans, 7 Bethan Lewis, 6 Kate Williams, 5 Gwen Crabb, 4 Abbie Fleming, 3 Jenni Scoble, 2 Carys Phillips, 1 Gwenllian Pyrs.
Replacements: 16 Kelsey Jones, 17 Maisie Davies, 18 Donna Rose, 19 Alaw Pyrs, 20 Bryonie King, 21 Meg Davies, 22 Courtney Keight, 23 Nel Metcalfe.
England: 15 Ellie Kildunne, 14 Abby Dow, 13 Megan Jones, 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Jess Breach, 10 Zoe Harrison, 9 Natasha Hunt, 8 Maddie Feaunati, 7 Sadia Kabeya, 6 Zoe Aldcroft, 5 Abbie Ward, 4 Morwenna Talling, 3 Sarah Bern, 2 Lark Atkin-Davies, 1 Mackenzie Carson.
Replacements: 16 Amy Cokayne, 17 Hannah Botterman, 18 Maud Muir, 19 Rosie Galligan, 20 Abi Burton, 21 Lucy Packer, 22 Holly Aitchison, 23 Helena Rowland.
Referee: Clara Munarini
Assistant referees: Aurelie Groizeleau, Maria Heitor
TMO: Oli Kellet
Source: Six Nations
