Meg Jones shines as relentless England sweep Wales aside to seal triple crown

There is an alternate universe in which Meg Jones played the Six Nations game between England and Wales in a red shirt instead of a white one. The Red Roses captain was born in Cardiff and can speak fluent Welsh, but she chose to play for England, being qualified through her mother. That decision is surely one of the most important to England’s current form with Jones an integral and irreplaceable cog in the machine.

Jones was named captain with Zoe Stratford pregnant and she has more than stepped up to the plate. The 2025 World Rugby player of the year nominee has scored in two of the three opening matches of the tournament, bagging two here at a sold-out Ashton Gate.

Not only is she on the scoresheet, she is also proving to be the linchpin in most of the side’s attacking moves. Off the pitch she is also inspiring the next generation, speaking openly about the grief she has experienced after losing both of her parents in 2024. Jones said she views this game as a tribute to her parents and feels she can “represent them and think of them in that space”.

The 29-year-old and her team inflicted their 11th consecutive win over Wales, despite losing Sadia Kabeya to injury after 22 minutes, but the visitors have clearly improved under Sean Lynn. Wales secured a bonus point with four tries, the final one coming from Seren Lockwood. Their 24 points was the most they had recorded against England. At the heart of the performance was the scrum-half, Keira Bevan, who scored a try and kept an energetic tempo.

Wales were also boosted by the return of the experienced back-row Alisha Joyce who started on the bench but came on in the 54th minute to play her first international since giving birth to her son, Ralphie, 158 days ago.

While they slightly closed the gap, their defence and sloppy errors must be corrected to take the next step. Lynn believes his side can catch up to England, but he did not put a timeline on when it may happen.

“I am very proud of the character the girls showed for the 80 minutes,” he said. “We are still disappointed we leaked 62, but the character we did show there to get that bonus-point [is good]. The areas we are looking at, we are moving closer.”

The player of the match Marlie Packer, who completed the full 80 minutes for the first time since the Rugby World Cup pool game against Samoa last year, was electric, but it was Maddie Feaunati who scored first. Debutant Millie David scored next, but her first cap was cut short after she failed a head injury assessment. Tries were exchanged, including a quality England team move, to put the hosts 29-12 ahead at the break.

The Red Roses ran away with the game in the second half, sparked by tries from Amy Cokayne and Claudia Moloney-MacDonald. A beautiful pass from Holly Aitchison put the replacement wing Jess Breach over with the former captain Packer adding her second.

Marlie Packer (bottom) celebrates scoring England’s third try. She added a second in her side’s dominant victory. Photograph: Nigel French/PA

The England head coach, John Mitchell, said of Packer: “She is so valuable. She is a leader. She does a lot of unseen stuff. She might not have the title, but she is still very much a senior person within the group. She is phenomenal with younger players. I couldn’t say any more, her value is very high within the group.”

The replacement prop Maud Muir rounded off the scores to ensure England continued their winning streak, now up to 36 matches in all competitions.

Wales will have to sit with the hurt of losing for two weeks with the fallow week of the competition coming next weekend. They next play Ireland on 9 May while England continue their title defence against Italy. The Red Roses have bagged the triple crown so two games stand between them and an eighth consecutive Six Nations trophy.

Wales will have to sit with the hurt of losing to their rivals for two weeks with the fallow week of the competition coming next weekend. Lynn’s side will next play Ireland on 9 May, while the Red Roses continue their title defence against Italy. The Red Roses have bagged the triple crown, now two games stand between them and an eighth consecutive Six Nations trophy.