England are one game away from claiming an RBS Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam after a hard-fought 20-13 victory over Wales.

Two first-half tries from centre Ceri Large and 10 points from the boot of Amber Reed saw England home despite a Welsh fight-back in the second half.

England led 14-3 at the break after enjoying plenty of possession and territory with Large's second try coming from a wonderful off-load from fly-half Reed.

Wales clawed themselves back into the game with two tries from their own centre Robyn Wilkins, who first pounced on a charge down and then ran in an interception. 

However, prop Rocky Clark charged down the conversion attempt of Wilkins' second try and a final penalty from Reed sealed the win for England.

England's fourth straight victory means they now head to France with a Grand Slam and Six Nations title at stake. England won the last of six Grand Slams in seven title-winning seasons in 2012 and finished fourth last year overall.

Les Bleues still in the hunt

France, meanwhile, bounced back from a narrow loss to Wales two weeks ago to ensure they remain in the title mix.

Showing six changes to the side that was edged 10-8 at The Gnoll, in Neath, Les Bleues struggled to find the sort of cutting edge which saw them put seven unanswered tries past Scotland in last year's 42-0 victory.

A scrappy first half punctuated by the referee’s whistle remained scoreless until France were awarded a penalty try three minutes before the interval.

Another shortly after the restart only served to highlight Les Bleues’ dominance up front, and with replacement Tracy Balmer now in the sin-bin, the home side were suddenly up against it.

Continual infringements thwarted France’s attempts to score in open play, and it was Scotland who came closest to breaking the deadlock when outstanding hooker Lana Skeldon went close off the back of a rolling maul.

It was game over for the hosts though when industrious number eight Safi N’Daye powered through two tackles to score France's third try and replacement Julie Duval added a fourth late on.

Small gains for Ireland

Ireland were the only side to improve their rating in the World Rugby Women’s Rankings after marking their return to Donnybrook with a tense 14-3 victory over a dogged Italian outfit on Sunday.

Back-to-back away defeats to France and England meant retaining the Women's Six Nations trophy was beyond Tom Tierney’s new-look side. However the runners-up spot is still within their grasp if they can pile on the points at home to Scotland next weekend and France are well-beaten by frontrunners England.

Italy’s hopes of a first win over Ireland since 1997 were still very much alive when they turned around only four points in arrears.

Michela Sillari’s penalty was scant reward for their early dominance and they found themselves behind on the scoreboard when debutant prop Lindsay Peat crashed over from close range for the game’s first try, captain Niamh Briggs adding the conversion.

Italy refused to buckle and it took a try from replacement Paula Fitzpatrick, off the back of a powerful maul, to secure a victory which earned Ireland eight hundredths of a rating point.

England remain the highest ranked of the Six Nations sides in second place behind New Zealand, France are third with a 2.4 points buffer over Ireland in fourth, with Italy occupying ninth. Wales sit in 10th spot and Scotland, who are still searching for their first win in the Championship since 2010, are unchanged in 13th.