England start Women’s Six Nations title defence with bonus-point win over Italy

England started their Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign with a 38-5 bonus-point victory over Italy in York.

Red Roses head coach John Mitchell selected an experimental line-up and watched full debutant Mia Venner respond with a try after three minutes.

Emily Scarratt, Claudio MacDonald and Amy Cokayne also crossed over in a largely one-sided opening 40 minutes, but England had to wait until two minutes from time to open their account for the second half when Emma Sing added a try to her three conversions.

Gloucester-Hartpury wing Venner made the most of her first international appearance in five years with a third-minute score before her fine run helped Scarratt bundle over to make it 14-0 soon after.

An England penalty try was followed by Italy’s Laura Gurioli being sent to the sin-bin and the hosts secured a bonus point ahead of the interval when MacDonald caught Holly Aitchison’s kick to dot down in the corner.

Italy did get off the mark through Francesca Sgorbini, but Cokayne ensured England ended a dominant first 40 with a fifth score when she pounced on a loose ball from a line-out to cross over.

Mitchell’s side eventually made their territory pay as Sing belted over the line in the 78th minute before she failed to add the extras.