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The fortress walls of Murrayfield were finally at Scotland women’s disposal for their first standalone game at the stadium but England rocked its foundations with a statement performance that left fans questioning if the world champions had injury issues at all.

The 30,498 crowd was a record attendance for a women’s solo sporting event in Scotland and they were largely silenced. Scotland were sloppy, conceding the most points against England since 2011 and they will have to be sharper when they face Italy in the next round.

On the face of things England should be struggling on pitch with 13 of their Rugby World Cup-winning squad missing through retirement, injury and pregnancies but the Red Roses are demontrating their endless pool of talent at this Women’s Six Nations. The latest player to be given a baptism in international rugby was the 19-year-old Bristol Bears back-row Demelza Short.

The youngster, who was playing for England Under-18s just last year, started at blindside flanker with Alex Matthews injured and usual back-rower Abi Burton employed in the second row with England’s unavailability list including four locks. Short had a solid game but there was another forward who shone in player of the match Maddie Feaunati.

The back-rower, playing at No 8 because of the injury to Matthews, was key in Ellie Kildunne’s opening try with a great line break. She also came up with a maul turnover and was the physical punch the Red Roses needed at times to launch attacks. Lilli Ives Campion also was a steady presence as the new lineout caller, backing up her performance at Twickenham against Ireland.

Scotland were shaky in defence and failed to capitalise on the front-foot ball they created but an area they were able to disrupt their opponents was at the scrum. The set-piece was a positive element to the hosts’ game, and they won multiple scrum penalties, particularly in the first half. The game was the first at home for the new head coach, Sione Fukofuka, and he was left in no doubt as to the gap he has to bridge, with Scotland conceding more than double the points than they did the last time the two teams faced in the World Cup quarter-final.

Nothing will take away from what the team achieved off of the pitch, though, with a huge crowd at the home of Scottish rugby. The anthem highlighted what it meant to the players with the captain, Rachel Malcolm, peeking over her shoulder to look at the piper on the roof.

When the action got under way England were the first to score and it was thanks to the quick feet of Kildunne, who dodged a tackle from Rhona Lloyd after being fed the ball from a beautiful line break from Feaunati. Lloyd’s afternoon went from bad to worse as the England captain, Meg Jones, was the next to step her and run to the line for England’s second.

Jones popped a kick through in round one for a sensational Jess Breach try and she carbon-copied the play for Kildunne’s second, which was the England star’s 50th try for her country. The prop Kelsey Clifford scored the bonus-point try in the 32nd minute before Lloyd outgassed Jess Breach to score Scotland’s try but Emma Sing had the last say of the first 40 with England’s fifth.

The Red Roses underpinned their dominance with seven second-half tries. The replacement prop Sarah Bern had two, to add to the two she scored last week, with the vice-captain Amy Cokayne, Sadia Kabeya, the former captain Marlie Packer, Haineala Lutui and the replacement wing Mia Venner all crashing over the whitewash.

Scotland are travelling away in the next round to try to get their campaign back on course, while England will host Wales with general sale tickets sold out at Bristol’s Ashton Gate. Scotland will be a part of the next big milestone in this tournament when they travel to Dublin in the final round for Ireland’s first standalone game at the Aviva Stadium.