Scotland vs England LIVE: Women’s Six Nations result, final score and reaction

Follow live updates from the first match in the 2022 Women’s Six Nations at DAM Health Stadium

(Getty Images)

A Marlie Packer hat-trick helped England begin their Women’s Six Nations campaign with a 57-5 thrashing of Scotland. Simon Middleton’s side extended their remarkable winning streak to 19 matches after a nine-try triumph over their rivals in Edinburgh. Playing in the shadows of Murrayfield, Packer got the ball rolling for England and they went on to comfortably secure a bonus-point victory to start their pursuit of another Grand Slam title.

It took nine minutes for the defending champions to go over for the first time through Packer and Emily Scarratt kicked the conversion on her Test return after a broken leg last year. Scarratt would play 58 minutes and finish with a 10-point haul after England went over six times in the opening half. Packer claimed a first-half double with Poppy Cleall, Heather Cowell, Abby Dow and Leanne Infante also touching down to make it 38-5 at the break. Holly Aitchison and Connie Powell added further tries after the restart before prop Packer secured a personal treble after some assistance from the TMO.

Scotland suffered a heavy loss to their old foes but the score only told half the story, with Chloe Rollie’s early try able to give the home crowd something to shout about while a knock-on denied Rachel McLachlan a further effort in an overall display that showed they can build on last season’s fifth-place finish. Follow all the reaction from this Women's Six Nations opener with our live blog below:

Scotland vs England

• 9 mins - TRY for Packer and converted as England take the lead, before P Cleall scores second
• 17 mins - TRY for Rollie pulls one back for Scotland
• 23 mins - TRY as Cowell races over the line and Dow storms through for quickfire fourth
• 31 mins - TRY for Packer and a fifth for the Red Roses
• 39 mins - TRY for Infante gives England a 33-point lead at the break
• 54 mins - TRY as Aitchison dots down first score of second half
• 65 mins - TRY for Powell just after coming on before Packer scores hat-trick one minute later
• England begin defence of Women’s Six Nations title with 52-point thrashing of Scotland

[26 March 2022 12:16 · Sarah Rendell]

TRY! Scotland 0-14 England (P Cleall 13’)

England have a line-out from Nelson’s poor kick and their maul is impressive, they march towards the line.

The ball is fizzed out to the wing but Rowland is hacked down. It then finds P Cleall who crashes over - this could be a long afternoon for Scotland.

Scarratt adds the extras.

[26 March 2022 12:14 · Sarah Rendell]

Scotland 0-7 England, 12 min

Can Scotland keep up their good work despite going down here? They were well organised and disciplined in the opening phases.

From the kick-off Scotland haven’t been as slick, Nelson put a kick straight into touch.

A break in play now with a water break, play underway shortly.

[26 March 2022 12:11 · Sarah Rendell]

TRY! Scotland 0-7 England (Packer, 9’)

A penalty was taken quickly by Infante sees England make a great break. The ball went through the hands and Packer crashes over!

That must be so frustrating for Scotland who have been strong so far. Scarratt adds the extras, game on!

[26 March 2022 12:10 · Sarah Rendell]

Scotland 0-0 England, 9 min

Nelson has missed the kick, frustrating for Scotland! It went just wide but Scotland are already back in possession and pushing forward.

McLachlan almost found a pocket of space in the England defence but the visitors managed to hold onto her. Eventually the Scots had to kick away with Kildunne collecting and running into the Scottish defence.

England finally get reward for their tireless work so far, Gaffney gave away a penalty at halfway.

Scotland looking the better team so far, they just need the points on the board.

[26 March 2022 12:07 · Sarah Rendell]

Scotland 0-0 England, 5 min

Scotland launched their first attack and they managed to bag a penalty advantage with England straying offside.

They kicked it away to create something special but England collected, we’ve come back for the earlier advantage.

Will they kick here? Yes they will! Nelson attempting to get the first points of the match.

[26 March 2022 12:05 · Sarah Rendell]

Scotland 0-0 England, 4 min

AS predicted the kicking game has been crucial with Kildunne collecting well.

England start their electric attack early with P Cleall making a good break but Dow dropped the ball in later phases. The first scrum was Scotland’s with England having a good edge but the hosts came away with it.

Nelson kicked it away with Dow picking up and launching an attack again. But England have another handling error which saw Scarratt kick it away with Nelson sending it back with her boot.

Scottish line-out now, phew what an opening few exchanges!

[26 March 2022 12:02 · Sarah Rendell]

Kick-off: Scotland 0-0 England

Here we go!

The record crowd in Edinburgh made their voices heard for the Flower of Scotland! It was quite emotional.

But back to the rugby, Scotland hope to upset England. Can they do it? We will find out shortly.

[26 March 2022 11:54 · Sarah Rendell]

Scotland vs England

The teams are out!

Anthems will get underway shortly and then the highly anticipated kick-off.

There will be a rugby against racism message and a tribute to Ukraine ahead of the anthems.

[26 March 2022 11:50 · Sarah Rendell]

Scotland vs England

Emily Scarratt is back but she has only played 20 minutes of rugby this season. She has spoken about her return and she says she is a bit nervous.

“It’s good to be back,” she told the BBC. “Always a little bit nervous but any opportunity to pull on the white shirt is massive.

“I’m just trying to get back into things. I’m part of an unbelievable team. I’ve only played 20 minutes this season. I’ve been through some tough training so I’ve certainly got a lot in the legs.

“They are on a good place. We know a lot of the girls well through domestic rugby. They are at home and they are a proud nation, huge respect for Scotland.”

[26 March 2022 11:45 · Sarah Rendell]

Scotland vs England

So just 15 minutes to go until we kick-off in this fixture.

The weather is ideal for rugby today so will we see a lot of kicking? I can imagine Chloe Rollie will be under a lot of pressure from high kicks from Ellie Kildunne and Heather Cowell and visa versa.

The set-piece will also be an interesting point as England are solid at scrum time. But Scotland’s line-out is also usually sturdy so it will be a great battle.

While England should get the win here, Scotland will be able to bring them a great game in front of a home.