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Else insists England's best is yet to come

Else England
England captain Steph Else believes her side have more gears to find after dispatching Wales in an entertaining 55-24 victory in the Women’s Summer Series.

Else’s side recovered from a slow start to run in nine tries and preserve their unbeaten run, with fellow high-flyers France lying in wait on Sunday.

In a meeting of contrasting styles, Gloucester-Hartpury ace Else feels that England’s technical quality shone through.

“The girls put on a show,” she said. “Wales came at us and were a very physical side but we managed to turn that around and we pulled out the win – credit to the girls, we played really well.”

England made a forgettable start at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, as Lucy Isaac dotted down to give Wales a surprise early lead.

But sublime tries from Niamh Swailes and Millie Hyett as well as a sensational brace from Evelyn Clarke and lineout score from Kira Leat ensured England were in total control with a 29-7 half-time lead.

“It definitely wasn’t the start we wanted but that came from a few little errors and we just needed to tighten up and take a deep breath and once we sorted out those errors we were rolling,” said Else.

“We’ve got some amazing individuals here and even though you’ve got amazing individuals you might not always gel together but we do and that’s the best part about this team, we can all come together and work really hard.

“We might not have had the time that some other teams have had, and I think credit to the girls, we work hard when we’re together and it’s really showing at the moment.”

Fly-half Ella Cromack chipped in with two kick assists as England’s backs purred in Parma and Else was delighted to see their homework pay off.

She added: “All of our 10s are great kickers and our wings are spot on as well and we have identified that the space was outside against Wales and we executed that really well.”

England crossed first in the second half through prop Leat but passed up three close-range scores to give Wales a sniff.

Further tries from Millie David, Ellie Roberts and Sophie Langford put the game to bed but Else knows where they have to improve ahead of the crunch clash with France.

“It’s all about working hard under fatigue and maintaining that standard. We had a lot of changes and a lot of people playing out of possession but every single one of the girls left everything out on the pitch and we haven’t even hit second gear yet,” she said.

“We’ll have a big prep now before we play France at the weekend.”

England lost 74-0 to France earlier this year leaving Else and co full of motivation ahead of this weekend’s rematch.

“It’s going to be a big game, we had that loss away to France earlier in the season and as much as that’s playing on our mind, we should be taking the last two wins with us and using that as momentum,” she added.

“They’ve had a good campaign but so have we.”