MacDougall not expecting easy Italy clash in Women's Summer Series
England battled past Scotland 31-17 in their opening round fixture at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly thanks to tries from Player of the Match Joia Bennett, Grace Clifford, Lucy Simpson, MacDougall and Molly Luthayi.
Earlier in the day, the competition's curtain raiser saw France breeze past Italy 46-5 but the Azzurine showed their talents during pockets of the game and were rewarded for their tenacious attitude when prop Alice Antonazzo crashed over.
'Italy won't be an easy game,' said the 20-year-old Saracens player. 'They put up a really good fight against the French, who are obviously a really good side.
'We know we've got to bring it to them. Italy will come with a lot of passion, and they'll really want to get into us quite early on.
'Therefore, we've got to come back at them with our physicality, but also with our speed.'
MacDougall crossed over for England's fourth score after fellow try-scorers Simpson and Bennett combined brilliantly in the build-up.
49' | MAGIC FROM MACDOUGALL
Amelia MacDougall has scored England U20s' fourth try against Scotland in style and Lia Green has added the conversion 😎
ENG 24-5 SCO#ENGvSCO | #U6NSummerSeries pic.twitter.com/YeZ2y0Qyne — Red Roses (@RedRosesRugby) July 5, 2025
The fly-half believes England have the tools available to overcome Italy amongst both the fronts and the backs.
'We've got some pretty speedy wingers, so we'll be looking to get the ball to them in a bit of space,' she continued.
'That's the area where I think we'll win the game, but also up front with the physicality battle, that's also going to be a massive thing.
'Both of those areas [will be important], making sure that we're physical again, like we were against Scotland, and also moving the ball a bit earlier, getting it to our speedsters on the wing so they can score some tries.'
England's final game of the Summer Series will be against France, who take on Ireland on Friday.
It means that MacDougall will be keeping tabs on how Les Bleuettes get on.
She added: 'We've always got a slight eye on France and what they're doing.
'But the main focus will be on Italy, getting the job done there, and making sure that we produce a good performance and hopefully get a good result.'
Six Nations Women's Summer Series Round 2 fixtures on Friday, 11th July:
Italy v England – 13:00
Ireland v France – 15:30
Scotland v Wales – 18:00
Discover the future of international rugby at the 2025 Women's Summer Series – where rising stars shine. Follow the action live at sixnationsrugby.com/u6n and on Instagram @u20sixnations.
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