England's Red Roses booked another Women's Six Nations triple crown in emphatic style on Saturday, swatting Wales aside 62-24. Centre Meg Jones was the headline act in a ten-try performance, with the Guardian's match report noting that the Red Roses scored "relentlessly" while still finding space for less established players to fill in around her.
Jones ran riot in midfield. Her line-breaking, support play and offloading game were central to England's first-half blitz, and by the time she was withdrawn she had a try, multiple try assists and the kind of statement performance that has put her back at the heart of England's World Cup planning. The Guardian's headline made it official: "Meg Jones shines as relentless England sweep Wales aside to seal triple crown".
The wider story was about depth. Several frontline England players were absent for the trip, but the Red Roses were able to absorb those losses without losing their stride. ESPN reported that the squad was "learning new roles" and "admirably coping with absentees" in the Six Nations win — a sign of the strength in numbers that has made England such overwhelming favourites for the home Rugby World Cup later in the year.
Ten tries told a familiar story of England's set-piece power and edge speed. Their driving maul created early platforms, the breakdown work was uncompromising and the back-line strike runners — Jones included — punished Welsh defensive lapses repeatedly. By the time Wales steadied, the contest was already gone.
Wales did not roll over. After their opening-round upset of Scotland, the Welsh side fronted up with the kind of physical intent that has been missing in years past, scoring four tries on a difficult afternoon to claim a losing bonus point. The Guinness Six Nations highlights package recognised that achievement, noting that "Wales claim a bonus point" even as England powered to victory.
The contrast between the two programmes is, however, growing harder to ignore. England's Red Roses operate as effectively a full-time Test squad with the deepest professional club system in women's rugby underneath them; Wales remain in the slower lane of full-time professionalism, and that gap shows up most clearly in 80-minute consistency. Wales had moments, but England had control.
The triple crown — England's latest in a long sequence — keeps the Red Roses on track for another Grand Slam, with France looming as the only realistic obstacle. The two unbeaten sides are now on a collision course in the final round, in what once again looks like the only fixture capable of stopping the English juggernaut before the home World Cup.
For Wales, the bonus point is genuine progress. They will take the four-try haul, the fight, and the fact that at times they made England work for their points. But the scoreboard told its usual story: a 62-24 defeat is a 62-24 defeat, and the climb back into contention with England remains a long one.
For England, the most reassuring takeaway is the squad-versus-stars story. Meg Jones produced a star turn; but as ESPN and the Guardian both noted, this was a Red Roses team that did not need her to be perfect. With World Cup hosting duties on the horizon, that depth is exactly what John Mitchell's England most needed to demonstrate.
