Women’s Six Nations 2023: Scotland show glimmers of new dawn as Ireland and Italy crumble in second round

The second round of the Women’s Six Nations saw even more destructive scoresheets than we witnessed in the first weekend of action. England did not appear to miss their recently departed captain, Sarah Hunter, as their first match without her at the helm ended in an even more incontestable win than last week.

While France also bounced back from near defeat to the Italians with a crushing blow in Ireland, the most exciting and competitive fixture from the weekend was the Scotland and Wales grudge match at the Dam Health Stadium.

Unfortunately for the Thistles, Wales were able to come away with the win. However, Scotland were able to produce a stronger and more powerful performance than that which was seen in England last week, with fans able to see the potential as the team benefit from their full-time contracts.

As the players take a well deserved break this weekend, here is all you need to know about who shone the brightest in the second weekend of TikTok Six Nations.

Ireland 3-53 France

This was Ireland’s second defeat of the tournament and in a week where they needed a courageous and comprehensive performance, they suffered one of their worst ever losses. Les Bleues did not mind one bit that they were playing away from home for their second week in a row as they demolished their opponents by 50 points.

Not only did Ireland not put a single try on the board, but they were playing against 14 French players and their only points came as part of the fallout of Annaelle Deshayes’s red card in the 20th minute.

At the moment, it looks like it’s going to be a battle between Scotland and Ireland to see who will end up with the wooden spoon and based on the past two weeks, Ireland are going to have to put in a phenomenal amount of effort not to end up with the prize no-one wants.

Scotland 22-34 Wales

Ahead of what was arguably a grudge match, Wales had spoken about ‘storming the castle’ and they were able to do just that within three minutes after Scotland conceded an early penalty. However, the Scottish attack did not dismay and they were in much livelier action than they had been in Newcastle last weekend.

Unfortunately, Scotland have extended their losing streak to 11 games, but they must celebrate that, contrary to what we have become all too familiar with, the Thistles showed much more fight with tries coming from Lana Skeldon, Coreen Grant and Chloe Rollie.

It will not be the result Scotland were hoping for or felt they could have achieved, yet it is far more positive than the scoresheet suggests.

With fixtures against Italy and Ireland to prepare for in the final two weekends, Scotland will have much more faith in believing they will not end up with five defeats by the end of the tournament.

Wales, however, will jump from strength to strength and they will need all the might they have as they prepare to take on England following this weekend’s break in action.

England 68-5 Italy

In the first ten minutes it looked like this could be a real test for England, with Italy able to quickly fight back from an early try. However, it didn’t take the Red Roses long to find their unstoppable rhythm and Italy were forced to endure what might have felt like the longest 70 minutes of their rugby careers.

Abby Dow scored four tries while Jess Breach scored a hat-trick and new captain Marlie Packer added two herself as England beat Le Azzure with 12 tries. The Red Roses' superiority continues as they head into the break at the top of the standings.

Italy’s performance in Rome last week seemed like a distant dream rather than a realistic prospect of them rising through the ranks. However, there is nothing more dangerous than a team which has just been so catastrophically undone and it is set to be Ireland who could suffer the consequences as Italy prepare to bounce back in round three.

When is Round 3 of Women’s Six Nations?

The six teams will return to the pitch on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 April as England take on Wales in Cardiff, Italy host Ireland and Scotland travel to France.