Meg Jones revealed that some harsh words at half-time inspired England to a convincing victory over Italy that booked their place in the 2021 Women’s Six Nations final.
England led 17-3 at the break thanks to tries from Emily Scarratt and Vicky Fleetwood – both coming after Italy handling errors and the latter being assisted by Jones – but the Azzurre dominated proceedings for large spells of the first 40 minutes and were unfortunate to be behind.
In an almost complete reversal of the 52-10 Round 1 win over Scotland – where they pulled away in the first half before stalling after the break – the Red Roses stormed out of the blocks after the interval in Parma to eventually record a 67-3 triumph.
Inside centre Jones didn’t score one of the seven second-half tries but her all-round performance, which included making 140 metres on 11 carries and breaking nine tackles, earned her the Women’s Six Nations Player of the Match gong.
And she acknowledges that a half-time rocket helped the visitors produce the scintillating display in the second 40 minutes.
“It was a tough ride in the first half,” said Jones. “They came at us pretty hard, fair play to Italy. We had some tough words in the changing room but I thought we turned it around pretty well.
“We put 50 points on them in the second half – credit to the girls. We were just trying to be clinical, especially after the Scotland game, showing our accuracy and discipline.
“In the second half, with the finishers coming on, I think we showed the depth we’ve got in the squad.
“Particularly with Bryony and Poppy Cleall coming on, I think we accelerated – there were some tough words at half-time but we were clinical in the second half.”
A ten-minute second-half blitz saw Abby Dow score twice, as Harriet Millar-Mills and Helena Rowland also crossed for England.
Replacement prop Bryony Cleall then made it three tries from three caps with a low burrowing finish, while Claudia MacDonald and Lark Davies finished it with further tries late on.
With a number of players who can change a game in an instant – including Jones herself – the centre says the key for the Red Roses was maintaining the balance between individual brilliance and structured team play.
“You’ve got to regroup and stick to what you’ve been training – keep it simple, keep it accurate and then you can build momentum,” added Jones.
“It’s finding that balance of when can we start flairing it up and when do we need to use our structured side.
“Particularly in the first half, it was about using that structure, building momentum, setting the phases and then we can light up.”
The victory means England will finish top of Pool A and play the winners of Pool B in the 2021 Women’s Six Nations final on Super Saturday.
