The Albany Gazette - England run in 12 tries to hammer Scotland in Six Nations

The world champions ran in 12 tries for a 35th consecutive Test victory in front of over 30,000 fans in Edinburgh, a record for a women's sporting event in Scotland.

England showed no mercy as Ellie Kildunne and Sarah Bern each touched down twice for the Red Roses, while Meg Jones, Kelsey Clifford, Emma Sing, Amy Cokayne, Marlie Packer, Sadia Kabeya, Mia Venner and Haineala Lutui also scored tries.

Zoe Harrison added a further 24 points by slotting all 12 conversions.

"That was a special performance," said England coach John Mitchell.

"It's been a lot of moving parts over the last few weeks, with some of the players that are hugely valued in the team having serious injuries.

"The staff and the coaching group have done a tremendous job."

Scotland's only reply came through Rhona Lloyd as they failed to build on victory away to Wales on the opening weekend of the Six Nations.

Mitchell's side were missing 10 players due to injury or pregnancy but have shown no sign of letting go of their grip on the competition.

England have won every women's Six Nations dating back to 2019.

The visitors had secured a bonus point inside 26 minutes as Kildunne brought up her 50th Test try with two early scores.

Lloyd raced away to put Scotland on the scoreboard and limit the damage to 35-7 at half-time.

But England's strength in depth showed in the second half as they added seven more tries without reply to seal a second win of the championship following last weekend's 33-12 success over Ireland.

"The occasion was amazing and we embraced that there were 30,000 plus in the stands," said Scotland coach Sione Fukofuka.

"The occasion was fantastic but full credit to John Mitchell, Meg Jones and the team. We had a few areas exposed and we need to work on that."

France, who are England's main contenders for the title, continued their strong start to the campaign, scoring six tries in a 38-7 triumph over Wales in Cardiff.

Influential scrum-half Pauline Bourdon Sansus claimed the bonus point for Les Bleues on the hour mark, having been one of two France players to be sin-binned in the first half.

The teams were tied 7-7 at the break as France produced another rusty opening 40 minutes, after leading Italy just 5-0 at the break a week ago in their tournament opener.

"We know it's not enough," France head coach Francois Ratier told reporters. "It's a real challenge for us to start games on the right footing."

(T.Wright--TAG)