Captain Packer sent off as England crush Spain

Women’s Rugby World Cup warm-up

England (43) 97

Tries: Feaunati, M Packer, Rowland (3), Breach, Bern (2), Shekells, Ives Campion, Sing, Campbell, Botterman, Dow, Jones Cons: Harrison (7), Sing (4)

Spain (0) 7

England ran in 15 tries as they walloped a limited Spain side 97-7 in a match that quickly morphed from a contest into a glorified training session.

However captain Marlie Packer may miss some of England’s pool-stage campaign at the forthcoming Rugby World Cup after the 35-year-old was shown a red card for a clumsy clearout that caught the leg of Spain full-back Claudia Pena.

The incident will be reviewed by a disciplinary panel in the coming days.

England have one more match – a warm-up away to France next Saturday – before they open the World Cup against the United States in Sunderland on 22 August. Fixtures against Samoa and Australia follow before a potential quarter-final in Bristol.

John Mitchell’s side are stacked in back-row options with Zoe Aldcroft, Alex Matthews and Sadia Kabeya among those who didn’t start against Spain, but Packer’s dismissal is a definite hiccup for preparations.

Before the second-half red card, England had enjoyed their afternoon in front of 5,286 fans at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

The Red Roses crossed after a little more than three minutes with number eight Maddie Feaunati, a rampaging presence in the loose, taking a short ball from fly-half Zoe Harrison and crashing over.

The crowd had already begun cheering Spain’s spirited moments by that point. Prop Mireia de Andres’ turnover in the shadow of her own posts earned applause from the north stand, while there were groans of disappointment when Las Leonas were held up over the line on a rare attack.

With Spain ranked 13th in the world, the gulf in class and power to an England side who have swept all before in recent years was clear.

Rowland completed her hat-trick three minutes into the second half, with Bern grabbing a second and Lilli Ives Campion, Emma Sing and replacement May Campbell also registering before Packer’s red.

Pena shrugged off Breach to race in for Spain’s solitary and well-celebrated score.

Hannah Botterman and Abby Dow came off the bench to further plump up the scoreline with tries, before Megan Jones, who is leaving Leicester for Ealing this summer, crossed with the clock in the red.

England have now won 56 out of their last 57 matches, with their only defeat in that time the World Cup final against New Zealand in 2022.

Before being shown a red card, Marlie Packer did much to prove that she is still a force as she heads into her fourth World Cup.

The 35-year-old, captain here but replaced by Zoe Aldcroft as regular skipper in January, pinballed around the pitch, providing a feast of front-foot ball for her backline and cajoling younger team-mates to follow her into the fray.

However, on the hour, she misjudged her entry into a breakdown to make a regulation clearout.

Losing her balance, she toppled, shoulder first, into the leg of Pena. The Spaniard escaped injury as she buckled under Packer’s weight and the England flanker was immediately apologetic.

But having reviewed the action on the big screen, referee Aurelie Groizelau issued a straight red card.

Elsewhere prop Bern showed up well, making metres with her standout pace and all-court game, while Rowland, starting on the wing for the first time, crossed three times, while finding her feet in the wide channels.

England: Sing; Rowland, Jones, Shekells, Breach; Harrison, L Packer; Clifford, Atkin-Davies, Bern, Ward, Ives Campion, Burton, M Packer (c), Feaunati

Replacements: Campbell, Botterman, Muir, Aldcroft, Kabeya, Hunt, Heard, Dow

Spain: Pena; Cortes, Vinuesa (c), Z Perez, Piquer; Argudo, Aresti; Silva, Blanco, De Andres, Castelo, Martinez, Peralta, Rosell, Capell.