The Women’s Six Nations Championship concluded on Sunday with a second straight win for Italy, 26-12 against Scotland, and a gain of three-tenths of a point in the rankings.

The Azzurre remain, unmoved, in seventh place but with 74.85 points as opposed to 74.55 before the match at the Stadio Plebiscito in Padua kicked off. However, they are still 3.83 points adrift of Australia in sixth.

Two tries inside the first 10 minutes through hooker Melissa Bettoni and winger Sofia Stefan saw the home side get off to a flying start on a mudbath of a pitch.

A 12-0 lead then became 19-0 when flanker Giada Franco crossed the line and Michela Sillari added her second conversion.

With Scotland struggling to get to grips with the greasy conditions, Italy pulled further in front when Beatrice Rigoni scored within two minutes of the re-start. Fellow centre Sillari added the extras to push the score out to 27-0.

Scotland never gave up battling though, and two tries within the space of seven minutes, from Lana Skeldon and Eilidh Sinclair, gave the final scoreline a more respectable look. Despite the loss, Scotland are still ranked 11th in the world.

Les Bleues celebrate Grand Slam 

Neither champions France nor runners-up England picked up any rankings reward for their respective victories over Wales and Ireland on Friday night, due to the big points differential between themselves and the opposition.

France claimed a fifth Grand Slam with another typically solid defensive display in winning 38-3 in Colwyn Bay, Wales becoming the fourth side this season to fail to breach their line despite applying a good deal of pressure on the champions-elect in the first half especially.

Les Bleues also showed glimpses of their attacking ability in running in five tries through Pauline Bourdon, Caroline Drouin, Jessy Tremouliere, Agathe Sochat, Carla Neisen in addition to a penalty try.

They claim the trophy from England, who achieved the clean sweep the year before – with the round four 18-17 win against the Red Roses in Grenoble in front of a world record crowd the crucial result.

While clearly disappointed to lose the title, England can console themselves with the way they bounced back from the disappointment of that loss in France to record a 33-11 win over Ireland at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

Danielle Waterman opened the scoring as she raced home for her 47th international try before the Red Roses used their strength in the maul to create two more scores for Marlie Packer and Amy Cokayne as they established a 19-6 half-time lead.

Ellie Kildunne’s clever show-and-go resulted in her fifth try of the tournament and then, Amber Reed added a sixth. Claire Molloy grabbed a late consolation for the visitors, who finished the Championship ranked eighth, one place ahead of Wales.

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