ENGLAND head coach Simon Middleton hailed the "sensational" impact of Poppy Cleall as the Red Roses began their Women's Six Nations campaign with a 52-10 bonus-point win over Scotland.

Former Ellingham & Ringwood ace Cleall won the woman of the match award for her display in Doncaster as both she and twin sister Bryony both crossed the whitewash.

“Poppy Cleall was brilliant," said Middleton.

"Her all-round impact is sensational.

“I thought Zoe Aldcroft was exceptional, she’s such a consistent player. Bryony Cleall can bring something different and I’m really pleased for her."

Middleton’s charges ran in eight tries in all at Castle Park to get their Women’s Six Nations title defence off to the perfect start.

It was blistering from the outset as the Red Roses put Scotland under immediate pressure.

Neat offloading from Bryony to Poppy Cleall was the catalyst behind England’s opening try on the 10-minute mark. Their fantastic interlinking saw Aldcroft brought down just shy of the whitewash, but Marlie Packer was on hand to break through the middle of the resulting ruck and power over.

Seven minutes later scrum-half Leanne Riley sniped at the base of a five-metre ruck to claim England’s second score.

Fly-half Helen Nelson put Scotland on the scoreboard courtesy of an easy three-pointer, but England’s response was emphatic. Hooker Lark Davies surged over from a trademark rolling maul, before Bryony Cleall – making a second appearance since her debut two years ago – marked her return to international duty with a score, and in doing so secured England’s bonus-point.

Leading 33-3 at the break, the Red Roses started the second half with the same intensity as they had ended the first, and it saw fly-half Helena Rowland dart over for her first Test try after three minutes.

A Poppy Cleall yellow card handed Scotland a one player advantage, and they were able to immediately capitalise through a Hannah Smith try. The Red Roses went down to 13 players on the 57-minute mark, Davies sin binned for a high tackle, and then Scotland replacement Molly Wright was shown a red card for making head contact with her shoulder.

Returning to the field, Poppy Cleall joined her sister on the scoreboard in the 70th minute, the benefactor off the back of a five-metre rolling maul. It was her fifteenth Test score.

England were awarded a penalty try with two minutes remaining after Louise McMillan brought down a promising rolling maul, rounding out a comprehensive victory.

“I was really pleased with the first half," said Middleton.

"Our intensity was what we wanted, particularly defensively, and our ruck speed gave us the attacking tempo we talked about. We got ourselves into a position where we wanted to be in the game but then didn’t kick on. It got a bit fractious and became stop-start in the end and I’m a little disappointed in the second half.

“We know we have plenty to work on. We’ll have a look at the penalty count, what they were for and there’ll definitely be some areas we need to smarten up in terms of our discipline.

"There are lots of lessons for us."