England women’s rugby has been untouchable at the Guinness Women’s Six Nations in recent years, and there isn’t much evidence to suggest that will change this week when the Red Roses host Wales women’s rugby at Ashton Gate in Bristol, England.

Sure, it’ll be the first home match of the 2024 event for England. And the first time Ashton Gate has hosted the Women’s Six Nations. And the first home-crowd experience for new England head coach John Mitchell.

But England has everything in its favor – five consecutive Women’s Six Nations titles (including two straight Grand Slams), a 48-0 rout of Italy to kick off this year’s title defense and the expectation for more than 18,000 spectators, which will be the largest home crowd for a match not played at the famed Twickenham. 

A fun fact: More than 58,000 fans were on-site at Twickenham to witness England’s title-clinching win over France last year (38-33). It was a new attendance record for a women’s rugby match.

Wales has not beaten England since 2015 and has given up more than 50 points in each of their last seven meetings, including a 59-3 drubbing in the 2023 Women’s Six Nations, where nine players scored tries for England.

On the bright side, Wales is coming off a third-place finish in last year’s Six Nations, and a similar performance in 2024 could mean qualifying for the 2025 Rugby World Cup, if the tournament favorites – England and France – again finish in the top two places.

The downside for Wales is that it opened this year’s event with a 20-18 home loss to Scotland, marking the first time in 20 years Scotland has won on Welsh soil. 

Is this the ideal rebound opportunity for Wales? Probably not, but a win – or even just a solid performance – could be huge for momentum and confidence. It’s also probably for the best to be getting this matchup out of the way early.

Up next for England will be a trip to Scotland on April 13, while Wales takes on Ireland later that day.

2024 Women’s Six Nations Standings

2024 Women’s Six Nations Scores & Schedule

Round 1 (March 23-24)

France 38, Ireland 17
Scotland 20, Wales 18
England 48, Italy 0

Round 2 (March 30-31)

Scotland vs. France (March 30 at 10:15 a.m. EDT)
England vs. Wales (March 30 at 12:45 p.m. EDT)
Ireland vs. Italy (March 31 at 10 a.m. EDT)

Round 3 (April 13-14)

Scotland vs. England (April 13 at 9:15 a.m. EDT)
Ireland vs. Wales (April 13 at 11:45 a.m. EDT)
France vs. Italy (April 14 at 7:30 a.m. EDT)

Round 4 (April 20-21)

England vs. Ireland (April 20 at 9:15 a.m. EDT)
Italy vs. Scotland (April 20 at 11:45 a.m. EDT)
Wales vs. France (April 21 at 10:15 a.m. EDT)

Round 5 (April 27)

Wales vs. Italy at 7:15 a.m. EDT
Ireland vs. Scotland at 9:30 a.m. EDT
France vs. England at 11:45 a.m. EDT

How To Watch England Rugby Vs. Wales At The 2024 Women’s Six Nations

Watch England play against Wales on FloRugby and the FloSports app.

FloRugby will be streaming the 2024 Women’s Six Nations Championship, along with other international rugby leagues and events, including the U20 Six Nations, Top 14, United Rugby Championship and Super Rugby Pacific. 

Lineups

England

Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Aitchison, Hunt; Botterman, Atkin-Davies, Muir, Aldcroft, Galligan, Kabeya, Packer (capt), Matthews.

Replacements: Powell, Carson, Clifford, Ward, Feaunati, Packer, Harrison, Gregson.

Wales

Hesketh; Neumann, Jones, Lake, Cox; George, Jones; Pyrs, Phillips, Rose, Fleming, Evans, Williams, Callender, Lewis.

Replacements: Reardon, Constable, Tuipulotu, John, Butchers, Bevan, Powell, Metcalfe.

🌍 @Scotlandteam have reached an all-time high in the World Rugby rankings after this weekend #GuinnessW6N! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/DjMdJQfRyY

— Guinness Women’s Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) March 25, 2024

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