Bears Women star Sarah Bern scored twice as the Red Roses kicked off their Women’s Six Nations title defence with a 33-12 victory over Ireland at Allianz Stadium.
Bern powered over twice in the first half after front row partner Amy Cokayne opened the scoring as the world champions went into the break with a comfortable 21-0 lead.
Further tries from Jess Breach and Ellie Kildunne completed a bonus-point win for John Mitchell’s side in front of a record Women’s Six Nations crowd of 77,120 in Twickenham.
“We’ve got a new combination of players, and we’ve got a lot of youngsters in. We knew it wasn’t going to be perfect and we were never expecting that,” said Bern.
“There were some elements that we were really celebrating and there are some elements that we’ll definitely reflect on. But the atmosphere in the stadium was just fantastic, and that always helps us get over the line.”
England, who are seeking an eighth straight Six Nations title and fifth consecutive Grand Slam, will now turn their attention to Scotland in Murrayfield next weekend before returning to Ashton Gate in Round 3 for a meeting with Wales on Saturday, April 25th.
Elsewhere, a host of Bears were at the heart of a hard-fought win for Scotland as they opened their 2026 Women’s Six Nations campaign with a 24-19 victory over Wales.
Meryl Smith, Emma Orr, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke and Hollie Cunningham all started for the visitors at Principality Stadium under new head coach Sione Fukofuka.
Orr linked up brilliantly with Bears teammate Smith to set up Chloe Rollie for Scotland’s first try before Wales hit back with two tries on their own – both converted by Bears scrum-half Keira Bevan – to give the hosts a narrow 12-10 lead at the interval in Cardiff.
But Scotland responded with two tries after the restart, with their third of the afternoon set up by Smith’s pinpoint kick to find Lucia Scott as the visitors surged to 24-12 ahead.
Wales claimed a losing bonus point with late try from captain Kate Williams but despite their best efforts in the closing stages, Scotland held on to clinch the win.
