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from Women’s Six Nations:

Sarah Gill struck two second-half penalties to earn Scotland a 6-6 draw against Italy – but their wait for a first away victory in the women’s Championship goes on.

Six points from the boot of Italian fly-half Valentina Schiavon had put Italy on course for their maiden win of this year’s competition but Scotland improved after the break to snatch a draw.

But the result came at a price with Watsonians hooker Sarah-Louise Walker along with wingers Lynsey Douglas and Victoria Blakeworth all departing the field with injuries.

Both teams had chances to go for the win late on, but neither side could grasp the opportunities that came their way to leave Scotland boss Gary Parker a frustrated figure.

Schiavon gave her side the lead with a penalty on 11 minutes before doubling the advantage with another kick just four minutes before halftime to put Italy 6-0 ahead.

Walker and Douglas had already departed the fray at this point and Parker’s decision to replace scrum-half Louise Dalgliesh with Gill during the interval paid dividends.

A 52nd minute penalty brought the Scots back into the game before Murrayfield Wanderers star Gill levelled the scores to set up a tense finale.

In a war of attrition, both teams had kickable penalties to win the match but in the end they had to settle for a share of the spoils.

For a full schedule of all the 2010 Six Nations action, go here. For travel packages to England for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup, go here.

from Women’s Six Nations:

Flanker Maggie Alphonsi and centre Emily Scarratt crossed in the opening stages before full-back Claire Allan and replacement Amy Turner rounded off the victory in the second half in a match marred by terrible conditions at Esher.

Ireland replied through Kate O’Loughlin’s try but it was not enough to stop the English juggernaut who now face trips to Scotland and France as they bid to win their fourth Grand Slam in five years.

The game was just four minutes old, when experienced back-rower Alphonsi, back in the side after sitting out the victory over Italy, was at the back of a maul to power her way over.

And two minutes later they further extended their lead when Heath Fisher won turnover ball before feeding Scaratt whose perfect running line enabled to slash her way through the Irish defence.

Katy McLean kicked her only conversion of the match to give the home side a 12-0 lead but as the half progressed Ireland enjoyed their best spell of the match.

In the wet conditions, the visitors opted to keep the ball in the hands of the forwards and the policy paid dividends as Loughlin found herself at the back of a maul to score the first points of the Championship against England.

It was no surprise with the weather that defences generally held sway for the remainder of the first half but England were able to add to their total midway through the second.

Again a maul was employed to suck in Irish defenders leaving the backs with the space they needed to send Allan over and take England two scores clear.

The final try came with 11 minutes remaining, Ireland were again caught short defensively as Rachel Burford and Scarratt superbly combined to send Turner in to round off the victory.

For a full schedule of all the 2010 Six Nations action, go here. For travel packages to England for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup, go here.

from Women’s Rugby Six Nations:

The Welsh went down 15-3 in Bridgend to undo all of the good work they had done in seeing off Scotland in their previous match.

A Non Evans penalty was all Wales had to show for their efforts and with a defeat to England already on their record they are now out of the running for the title.

Lewis’ side go to Ireland next with a clash with Italy completing their fixtures and Lewis is looking for the right reaction.

“It will be interesting to see how we respond to this when we go to Ireland. I would like to think we can strike back with a victory and a decent performance too,” said Lewis.

“We are off track in terms of our Six Nations ambitions, but I will be happy to accept wherever we finish in this tournament providing we learn the lessons of today’s game.

“It was a poor performance and everyone is understandably disappointed. We need to be beating sides like that if we are where we think we are in the world game.

“I felt that we played most of the rugby in the first half but we failed to capitalise on our scoring opportunities.

“In the second half, we found ourselves pinned in our 22 for long periods during which time we messed up and gifted them a couple of scores.”

For a full schedule of all the 2010 Six Nations action, go here. For travel packages to England for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup, go here.

from Women’s Rugby Six Nations:

Caroline Ladagnous scored the game's opening try for France

France grabbed two second-half tries in their 15-3 victory at Bridgend to inflict Wales’ first home defeat in the Women’s RBS 6 Nations Championship in three years.

Although Non Evans edged Wales in front with a first-half penalty, France were very much in the ascendancy after the interval and tries from Caroline Ladagnous and Sandrine Agricole made it a first defeat on Welsh soil since England won 30-0 in 2007.

Wales entered the game full of confidence following their 28-12 defeat of Scotland while the memory of last-year’s defeat to Les Bleus, which cost them the Grand Slam, was still fresh in the mind.

They got off to a great start through Evans’ sixth minute penalty but after that they struggled to find any rhythm.

Instead the visitors should have gone into halftime with a lead but fly-half Aurelie Bailon had an off day with the boot and could not turn penalties into points.

Even when Laetitia was sent to the bin early in the second half, Wales could not capitalise on their numerical superiority.

Instead France got the game’s first try with 15 minutes remaining. A good passage of play down the left-hand touchline saw lock Hasna Rhamouni break the gameline before hooker Sandra Rabier’s superb offload put flying winger Caroline Ladagnous away.

While France’s first try was superbly worked, their second owed far more to a Wales mix-up.

Captain Mel Berry gathered a kick ahead only to delay her pass to full-back Evans which gave the French chasers the time to charge-down the Cardiff Blues’ kick with Agricole snaffling the loose ball before touching down.

Bailon added the conversion to go with an earlier penalty to round off a great day for the visitors.

For a full schedule of all the 2010 Six Nations action, go here. For travel packages to England for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup, go here.

from ScrumQueens:

Scottish Rugby TV have provided video footage of Scotland’s superb win over France in round one of the women’s rugby 6 Nations. Ron Evans reported from Lasswade on the match which Scotland won 10-8 thanks to two tries from centre, and scrumqueens blogger, Lucy Millard.

For a full schedule of all the 2010 Six Nations action, go here. For travel packages to England for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup, go here.