England secured a second successive Grand Slam with 54-0 victory over Italy in Parma, completing a clean sweep of wins on their return to Championship action after a hiatus of almost eight months.
Ellie Kildunne marked her return to the fray with an early try to put England in control, before Poppy Cleall, Emily Scarratt and Abbie Ward scores sealed the bonus point before half-time.
The away side limited Italy to few openings throughout the 80 minutes, and Sarah Bern, Jess Breach, Leanne Riley and Marlie Packer added tries in the second 40 to wrap up a comfortable victory.
While coach Simon Middleton and his England charges celebrate the team’s 15th Grand Slam win, the result leaves last year’s runners-up Italy with just one victory from four matches, with a home clash against Scotland remaining.
England signalled their intent from the off with fly-half Katy Daley-Mclean looking to pick out the free-scoring Abby Dow in space down the flank, and the 34-year-old played a big part in the game’s opening score just moments later.
The visitors gained significant territory after a scrum in the Italian half, and with the offside advantage they passed the ball through the hands before Daley-Mclean picked out full-back Kildunne to touch down in the fourth minute on her first international XVs appearance since the 2018 Championship.
After away skipper Scarratt added the extras, Italy responded immediately and returning winger Maria Magatti closed in on the try-line only for effective counter-rucking from Scarratt and Dow to quell the danger.
And the Red Rose added to their score in familiar fashion on the quarter-of-an-hour mark, Cleall bulldozing over for her fifth try of the campaign after back-row partner Sarah Beckett had made good ground following a scrum.
The away side maintained control of the game and went close to adding a third only for Daley-Mclean’s cross-field kick to be well collected by Manuela Furlan, and although Bern crossed moments later, the score was ruled out for a knock-on at the lineout.
But it wasn’t long before England did extend their advantage, Scarratt bursting through a gap in the home defence after being fed by Dow, before kicking the conversion to make it 21-0 just after half-an-hour.
Claudia MacDonald had a great chance to secure the bonus point but knocked on after Amber Reed had darted into space, but Ward then finished off a great team move from a driving maul, crashing over for England’s fourth.
Italy had struggled to gain a foothold in the game throughout the opening 40 minutes but they did finish the first half pushing for a score, only for more stern defending from Scarratt to end their hopes of getting on the board before the break.
Despite their good work ahead of the whistle, the Azzurre spent the opening stages of the second period under the cosh and England were rewarded for their patient play when Bern did get her try in the 60th minute.
The Red Rose continued to dominate possession as a number of replacements entered the field, and winger Breach went over in the corner to push her side up to the 40-point mark with little over ten minutes to go.
Riley added her name to the scoresheet in the game’s dying stages after skipping through the Italian defence to touch down in the corner, before Packer added further gloss to the scoreline in overtime.
