Cleall claims hat-trick for Red Roses in Six Nations

BURGATE'S Poppy Cleall was the star of the show for England Women after bagging a hat-trick in a thumping 66-7 victory over Wales.

In front of a record Twickenham Stoop crowd, the Red Roses ran riot scoring 10 tries in a huge win against rivals Wales. The former Ellingham & Ringwood star was awarded the player-of-the-match award after a dominant performance.

She opened the scoring for England when she powered over next to the posts on seven minutes. Cleall doubled their lead five minutes later in similar fashion as she bundled past several Welsh defenders.

She completed her hat-trick 10 minutes into the second half after splitting the defence on the Welsh 22-metre line and rounding the full-back to dive over.

The 27-year-old told the BBC after the game: “I thoroughly enjoyed it, we love playing here at the Stoop. To come down to a record crowd, it’s a fantastic occasion.

“[Simon Middleton, England coach] is a bit of a stickler, so I’m sure there’s quite a lot we need to work on. There’s some areas we need to improve on, so we need to go back and have a look at that.”

The Red Roses have an unblemished record in the Women’s Six Nations after four games, and their final game against Italy has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Cleall said on the Italy game: “We’re rugby players, we turn up when we’re told and prepare because that’s what our job is. At the moment, we’ll enjoy this win, and hopefully go over to Twickenham to watch the men do the same.”