Lucky Fourteen
Kingsholm, Gloucester
As expected, England gained their fourteenth win over France in fourteen attempts, but you can be sure John Mitchell and his staff will have plenty of criticisms to make to the team in the post-match analysis.
First, the nineteen points against. The Red Roses pride themselves on their defence and their ability to retrieve dire positions, but they conceded three tries and it might have been more, but for some finger-in-the-dyke stuff. Kat Roche had to make a few tricky decisions over the line, a try or held up? Fortunately for the hosts, the answers mostly came down in their favour.
Mitchell had asked for more pace. He got it, but at a cost that reasonable people would expect: English handling came to resemble French, as risk-taking reached new heights.
Fortunately again, French errors mounted up just as they had done in New Zealand last year.
Still, the crowd had plenty to cheer about. Some of the six tries by their heroes were gems, and Jess Breach’s couple brought her to 42.
Overture and Beginners
The opening moments were exciting. Tatyana Heard misplaced a pass in defence and Cyrielle Banet almost got clear to the line. But by half-time Heard was already my choice of PotM, and I was proud of myself when Kat Merchant, the official judge in these matters, agreed with my verdict. Heard has so many glamorous figures around her in the backs, but she makes the clock tick, constantly straightening the line, making valuable metres and putting her fellows away for profitable runs.
France pressed, but, as was to happen so often through the 80 minutes, they lost possession. The ball came out to Ellie Kildunne on the right. As she aimed a long kick ahead, did Lina Tuy jump into her? The crowd told Roche what they thought, but she and the TMO disagreed; Tuy was trying to charge the ball down.
At the first scrum the French pack heaved the opposition rearwards. Alarm bells. But once again they were pinged before they could get points on the board.
The second French scrum was an oddity: the ball wasn’t heeled, so Alex Chambon heeled it instead. It needed an AR to help the unsighted Roche with the decision, a free-kick.
England made two more handling errors before they got things together. Breach was held just short of the line, but the forwards got to work and Marlie Packer came up with her 47th test try. 7-0
Les Bleues had another chance to score, but England won a scrum penalty. Then the next lovely move; it stretched from Kildunne on the far right back across to Breach who had her first of the day. 12-0
Another curious sequence followed. Hannah Botterman complained lengthily to Roche (not her job), then the TMO intervened to point out Agathe Sochat trapped at the base of a ruck, lifting her foot to interrupt Mo Hunt’s pass. Verdict: a yellow card.
This brought England back to the French 5-metre line. Everyone expected a catch-and-drive; instead the ball whizzed out to Heard who fed Helena Rowland, and she wriggled her way under the posts. 19-0
Now France tried a move Pauline Bourdon Sansus used at Twickenham last year, only here it was Chambon looping across field to distract defenders. Sadly for her the vital pass went astray. Despite some reckless passing in defence England stayed lucky, and Les Bleues remained nilled till the break.
Half-time: 19-0
There should have been no thoughts of a runaway win in the home dressing-room. That Twickenham second-half couldn’t be forgotten.
Any French discussion of reducing turnovers fell of deaf ears; they went on building promising positions, then committing errors, too many them unforced. Nassira Konde offered a no-look pass, England snaffled it, Holly Aitchison kicked long, and Marlie Packer forced her way over. 26-0
Now at last fortunes changed: England offended at a breakdown and Emilie Boulard kicked to five metres out. Sochat dummied to deceive Amy Cokayne and ran in. 26-7
England responded at once. Aitchison offered her first chip; it was a beauty. Kildunne wrestled possession back, the ball winged out to Breach and she stepped past Cyrielle Banet for her second. 31-7
Both sides went on making worrying errors. Lark Atkin-Davies’ throws lacked accuracy. One overthrow almost gave Sochat a chance. Then Kildunne suddenly passed the ball straight to Konde. She should have been away, but Abby Dow had too much pace for her. (By the way the ball refused to run Dow’s way this game).
New front-rows brought more concern for the crowd. The French pack marched forward, and Romane Ménager forced her way over. 31-14
The English front three got their own back when Roche offered them a penalty at the next scrum. The pack hammered at the French line, phase after phase. The crucial strike came, not from a forward but Lucy Packer, who spotted a gap, dummied and was over. 38-14
The French weren’t done. With Gabrielle Vernier and Pauline Bourdon Sansus at last allowed on, they manufactured a fine move. Marine Ménager weaved in and out to feed PBS who scampered over. 38-19
There was one more worrying moment when the TMO suggested Mackenzie Carson might have been guilty of a dangerous tackle as she attacked Rose Bernadou in a ruck. It looked iffy, but the two ARs agreed with Roche that it was less serious than it looked. No card, phew!
It’s a sign of England’s current strength that Zoe Harrison had to wait till the 71st minute to celebrate her 50th cap, and Emily Scarratt was used mainly as a battering ram when she finally appeared.
Result: England 38 France 19 (19 + 19 = 38!)
Player of the Match: Tatyana Heard
Teams
England
15 Ellie Kildunne 14 Jess Breach 13 Helena Rowland 12 Tatyana Heard 11 Ahby Dow 10 Holly Aitchison 9 Mo Hunt 1 Hannah Botterman 2 Amy Cokayne 3 Maud Muir 4 Zoe Aldcroft 5 Morwenna Talling 6 Maddie Feaunati 7 Marlie Packer (captain) 8 Alex Matthews
16 Lark Atkin-Davies 17 Mackenzie Carson 18 Sarah Bern 19 Lilli Ives Campion 20 Poppy Cleall 21 Lucy Packer 22 Zoe Harrison 23 Emily Scarratt
France
15 Chloé Jacquet 14 Cyrielle Banet 13 Nassira Konde 12 Marine Ménager 11 Emilie Boulard 10 Lina Tuy 9 Alexandra Chambon 1 Yllana Brosseau 2 Agathe Sochat 3 Assia Khalfaoui 4 Manaé Feleu (captain) 5 Madoussou Fall 6 Charlotte Escudero 7 Émeline Gros 8 Romane Ménager
16 Manon Bigot 17 Ambre Mwayembe 18 Rose Bernadou 19 Hina Ikahehegi 20 Séraphine Okemba 21 Téani Feleu 22 Pauline Bourdon Sansus 23 Gabrielle Vernier
Officials:
Referee: Kat Roche (USAR)
ARs: Clara Munarini (FIR) and Chelsea Gillespie (SRU)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
Afterthoughts
It occurred to me only after a while that England’s starting team represented all nine PWR clubs. It’s the first time this has happened – one shaft of light in the darkness of an otherwise very unequal division of forces.
Despite all the triumphant noises from the six Gloucester-Hartpury players about the great support the team would get at Kingsholm, an attendance of 7,590 is a huge disappointment, far lower than gates at recent matches. How many will turn up at the Allianz?
I’ll leave thoughts about the French performance to another day.
