John Mitchell: England were ‘outstanding’ at times in victory over Wales

England boss John Mitchell acknowledged that parts of his team’s performance were “outstanding” after they brushed aside Six Nations opponents Wales 67-12 in Cardiff.

Ellie Kildunne marked her 50th cap by scoring a hat-trick of tries as England took another step towards retaining the Six Nations title.

The Red Roses full-back and world player of the year completed her treble in just eight second-half minutes as England cruised home at the Principality Stadium.

It was a 10th successive victory against Wales and came after England were rocked by conceding an early try, but they soon discovered a familiar successful formula and went one point better than the men’s winning margin on the same ground two weeks ago.

Mitchell said: “Wales got in front of us at the start and then we were able to grow our way back into the match.

“At times we were outstanding and there were times when we were still a little bit inconsistent around our basics.”

Asked about the performances of Kildunne and two-try number eight Maddie Feaunati, Mitchell added: “Ellie is very talented.

“She is maturing her game all the time and I think you will see her develop other skills.

“Maddie has been playing outstandingly. She is a world-class number eight – we are very happy to have two (Feaunati and Alex Matthews) – and now I have got a difficult decision to make next week.”

A 31st Six Nations win on the bounce – and 22nd against all opponents – was established early on through Feaunati’s try double, plus touchdowns for Cardiff-born centre Megan Jones and prop Sarah Bern.

Fly-half Zoe Harrison kicked three conversions, and then it became the Kildunne show in front of the biggest crowd for a Welsh women’s sporting event on home soil of 21,186, with Harrison adding three more conversions as Abby Dow (2) and Abi Burton (2) claimed further touchdowns.

Wales head coach Sean Lynn’s second game at the helm proved in stark contrast to a narrow defeat against Scotland seven days earlier.

“You are playing against the world’s best,” Lynn said.

“Not many sides in the world can have 13 changes, and full respect to England for coming here with a full-strength squad.

“I thought our attack worked really well. It is about keeping believing, keeping moving forward and we are all in this together.”