Women's Six Nations: Team of the Week - Round 2

The Red Roses proved once again why they are the most feared side across the Women's Test game, as John Mitchell's team hammered Scotland in front of a dejected capacity home crowd. 30,498 fans set a new record for a Scottish Women's sporting event as the World Champions came to town, yet England racked up a breathless 12-try drubbing in a brutal afternoon for the hosts.

Wales then hosted France, with Les Bleus Feminine pulling no punches from their impressive six try win. The action closed out in Galway, as Ireland hosted Italy for a clash at the revamped Dexcom Stadium. The home of Connacht witnessed the Shamrocks pick up the win, despite a valiant Azzurri effort out West. Once again, we've scanned the squads to put together a Team of the Week, from the top performances across the second round of the Women's Six Nations.

With regular Red Roses fullback Ellie Kildunne deployed along the left wing (more on that shortly), the fullback vacancy opened up for Emma Sing. The Gloucester-Hartpury star made good upon her chance to impress, with her footballing abilities standing out through some inch-perfect kicks. Sing formed a nice back-field partnership with Kildunne and Jess Breach, with Sing bagging her try just before the break.

The stand-out star from a significant win for Ireland, Beibhinn Parsons was a pocket-rocket along the right wing. The Connacht and Blackrock star ran in a stunning hat-trick against an impressive Italian outfit, with her tireless work-rate rewarded with a couple of admittedly 'walk-in' scores. Her second try was the pick of the bunch, as she evaded the defenders with an astonishing feat of athleticism on route to score.

We stay out in the Wild Atlantic West of Ireland for our next entry, as Aoife Dalton had another storming match in the Irish centres. Whilst Dalton did in fact don the 12 jersey for Scott Bemand's side, we simply had to include the Leinster wrecking ball in our Team of the Week, as he splintered the Azzurri defensive line time and again. Repeatedly securing front foot ball in a hard-fought clash in Galway, Dalton's efforts also saw her save a try by getting under the Italian ball-carrier.

Pivoting across the line-ups from the latest clash in Connacht, we hand Aiofe Dalton's opposite player the inside centre spot for our Team of the Week. It was a scintillating battle in the midfield, as Alyssa D'Inca rose to the challenge for some breathless work at the Dexcom. After an exhaustive effort saw the Blagnac star empty the tank across both sides of the ball, the former Serie A MVP collected the consolation try with just two minutes left on the clock.

Guess who's back, back again. Ellie Kildunne makes a second consecutive appearance in our Women's Six Nations Team of the Week, as the Harlequins dynamo was simply unstoppable upon England's trip up North of the border. Kildunne ran in a brace of tries in the one-sided win over Scotland, in an exciting positional shift out to the left wing in what was quite the successful experiment.

Joining her Red Roses teammate Ellie Kildunne in back-to-back Team of the Week back-lines, England fly half Zoe Harrison had another exemplary run at the helm of her team. Whilst the 'metronomic' metaphor has become quite overused for accurate place kickers, Harrison deserves the billing with a stunning strike rate of 12 successful conversions. Couple this with commanding game control to send her forwards through pockets and flyers around the edges, and Harrison was excellent all round.

We close out the back-line with a Wales star, who made a personal milestone this past weekend. Seren Lockwood was promoted up from the bench and into the red nine jersey, to run out for her first Wales Test start of her senior career. The 19-year-old took over the reins from veteran halfback Kiera Bevan, and had the tall order of going toe-to-toe with the enigmatic Pauline Bourdon-Sanus. However, Lockwood held her own against the French scrum half, and impressed upon her first hit out from the starting XV.

Moving onto the forward pack now, and we hand the number one jersey to England loose-head prop Kelsey Clifford, after a stunning effort against the Scottish front row. The Red Roses set-piece looked immovable at times, with Clifford at the heart of the action up in Edinburgh. The prop crashed over for a well taken try after 32 minutes, which added a further first half dent into the dwindled Scottish hopes.

A week removed from facing off against her partner Claudia Moloney-MacDonald at the Allianz Stadium as Ireland took on England, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald put in another top performance in green. The hooker had ironed out the cracks of last weekend's wobbly Twickenham line-out, with some accurate darts thrown out in Galway. The front rower wrestled her way across the whitewash for a try early in the second half, to keep the attacking tempo in Irish hands.

It's a second consecutive appearance in RUCK's Team of the Week for Sarah Bern, who was once again on fire for the Red Roses' dismantling of the Scots. Bern bagged her second brace in as many Six Nations matches, with the tight-head on hand to twice get England over the line. What made this all the more impressive was how both tries came from the bench, in an explosive second half from the Bristol star.

Back to the fighting Irish, and Fiona Tuite had an impressive afternoon against the Italians this past weekend. As we mentioned upon the Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald entry, Ireland's line-out success was a significant improvement from their opening week shortcomings against England. Tuite was at the heart of this renewed areal strength, and also commanded her pack around the park with an exhaustive effort.

Joining Tuite in the Team of the Week's engine room is stand-out French lock Madoussou Fall-Raclot. The second rower stepped up to lead in the locks, with her regular partner Manae Feleu shuffled out to the back row (more on that shortly). Fall-Raclot led the line with aplomb, was sharp in the air and brought a steady pair of hands to the Welsh gain-line. Be it an thunderous carry into the red wall or a neat off-load to send the backs into space, Fall-Raclot delivered, with her try a personal touch upon a solid appearance.

It was certainly a weekend to remember for Demelza Short, as the Bristol Bears star made her England debut at just 19-years-old. With multiple unavailabilities across the back row for the Red Roses, John Mitchell handed Short the opportunity to start in Edinburgh, and go head-to-head with the legendary Scottish enforcer Rachel Malcolm. Short held her own, and despite a couple of miss-steps common to those breaking into the Test stage, she impressed with tidy carries and tough tackling.

There was a slight change to the regular script for France captain Manae Feleu, who jumped into the back row for France's trip to Cardiff. Most typically a lock for Les Bleus, the Grenoble superstar seamlessly swapped into the seven shirt for an impressive effort against Wales. Feleu followed Fall-Raclot over the try line for the second score of the match, with the early second half score breaking the 7-7 deadlock and opening up the floodgates for France's latter stage breakaway.

We close out the Team of the Week with one of Ireland's most reliable operators, with Aiofe Wafer firmly back to her best after a quiet showing against England. The number eight racked up the meters with the ball, provided an excellent offload for Parson's second score, and capped off the afternoon with a score of her own to really stamp her intentions upon the rest of the tournament. When Wafer hits her top gear, it's almost impossible to contain her - this was certainly learned by the Italians upon a tough day out West.