Amy Cokayne powers England to opening Six Nations win against Ireland

If people in Edinburgh see glasses of water shaking, trees being shoved to the floor and massive footprints on the ground next week do not be alarmed, it is just the Women’s Six Nations giants of England coming to town. While the Red Roses continued their dominance, Ireland showed they had narrowed the gap as they cut England’s winning margin to 21 points from 44 in last year’s tournament.

England were dealt two blows mid-match, with the experienced scrum-half Natasha Hunt injured and, more significant, the talismanic lock Morwenna Talling carried off. The extent of the injuries is yet to be confirmed, but if Talling is ruled out for the rest of the competition the England head coach, John Mitchell, could start having a selection headache, with five forwards already missing because of injury and pregnancy.

Despite the loss of Talling, the Red Roses still managed to pull-off a five-try performance to start their title defence. The ground was rumbling to the cheers of a tournament record crowd of 77,120, just over 4,000 shy of the crowd who watched England win the Rugby World Cup last September at the same ground. Their Six Nations opener was both teams’ first time back on the pitch since that tournament.

This game was a difficult one to judge Ireland on: England thwarted most of their chances and the visitors were unable to get out of third gear at times and so the true measure of their level post-World Cup will reveal itself further into this competition. England were far from their best too but Amy Cokayne, the new vice-captain, led from the front with a great performance. The hooker scored a try, made an interception and had a 100% lineout success, which was one of the most key elements of the Red Roses’ performance. Some had thought the set piece was going to be weakened because some of the usual callers – such as Abbie Ward – are away with pregnancy.

Sarah Bern scores England’s third try against Ireland. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

The crowd was the biggest Ireland had ever played in front of and it was a momentous occasion for the hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, who won her 50th cap. There may have been some who thought she would never don the jersey again after being exiled from the team in 2022 and 2023 after criticising comments made by the then women’s director of rugby, Anthony Eddy. But Scott Bemand recalled her for the 2024 Six Nations and the hooker – who also played against her wife, the England wing Claudia, for the first time at international level – has been one of the most consistent players since. Bemand’s side also featured the return of the world-class Erin King, who came back to the international stage after recovering from a serious knee injury that kept her out of the World Cup.

Before the anthems a tifo featuring England players of past and present billowed from the roof to the floor of one of the stands. It was the first of its kind in the sport.

The match started scrappily, with both sides getting back into the flow of international rugby, but England were the first over through Cokayne. Ireland had promising moments, but fumbled their attacks with knock-ons and so the Red Roses extended their lead through two Sarah Bern tries.

Meg Jones, the new captain, made a sensational break to feed Ellie Kildunne, who got a huge cheer whenever she touched the ball, but a cracking cover tackle by the Ireland wing Vicky Elmes Kinlan denied England’s star.

Talling’s injury started the second half but England were back scoring through Jess Breach, who ran in the bonus-point try after a kick through from Jones. Ireland had a late resurgence with tries from King and the replacement Anna McGann but Kildunne’s try sealed the win.

Ireland will look to bounce back against Italy next Saturday, while England march on to Scotland. If the fairytale giant’s catchphrase is fee-fi-fo-fum, the Red Roses’ warning chant would be Am-y Cok-ayne. Scotland will be aware of what England will bring but the seven-time back-to-back champions will be aiming to add to their now unbeaten run of 34 games across all competitions.