The Allianz Stadium, London
One of the unlikeliest final scores this famed tournament has known.
In the tensest atmosphere you could wish for outside a World Cup final, the game went down to the last minute and the last point. Maybe you’ve known a win by the odd-point in 85 in so critical a match. I haven’t.
Up to round five England had conceded 29 points. Today France put 42 on them, to raise serious questions about future success.
Their game started well enough. Téani Feleu dropped Zoe Harrison’s kick-off and England were on the front foot.
For the moment it was all Red Roses, Emma Sing slotting in as an extra centre. Harrison slipped a deadly grubber through; Abby Dow grabbed it at full pace and 5-0.
England paid for their first error; a dropped pass, and Pauline Bourdon Sansus made her half- break look easy. She fed Gaby Vernier; from there Carla Arbez went over looking like any No 7. 5-7
The crowd sensed they were going to get their money’s worth.
The next moment Vernier was called off the field for an HIA, one of several to cause disquiet. She did return. All that in the first six minutes.
England’s line-outs continued to show their excellence. From the next one Harrison and Meg Jones manoeuvred well to create space for Emma Sing to score. 12-7
A French high tackle let Harrison plant a kick five metres out. That was the only invitation Lark Atkin-Davies needed. 19-7
Hannah Botterman made her second jackal, her speciality, when the French pack was inside the English 5-metre line. Why were England spending so much time there?
The next moment we may have seen France paying for the selectors’ decisions (a 6:2 bench split). A line-out found Axelle Berthoumieu standing at 9. Her wild pass back, was rescued by PBS; she just got a relieving kick away under intense pressure.
From England’s next move Sing ran in for her second (24-7). A bonus point already, and the game seemed to be running away from the visitors.
At the quarter mark Assia Khalfaoui stood accused of a head-on-head tackle on Sarah Bern. She saw yellow and left looking distressed. She’d suffered a red in her recent past. But it remained yellow this time. After all, Bern was being tackled by Madoussou Fall Raclot from the other side.
One Red Rose policy this match was to look for long passes to the wings, Aitchison-fashion. She was on the bench today, so it was left to Harrison and Jones to provide them. Jones’ next effort led to Claudia Macdonald crossing. (31-7) Game over? Ha! Some of us have short memories.
A string of expert offloads brought les Bleues inside the 5-metre line again. But a repeat outcome: an Abbie Ward turnover robbed them of vital points.
Another Botterman jackal was spoilt by what followed. England were camped once more in defence, and Harrison dropped Mo Hunt’s low pass back. PBS pounced to drop on the ball as the England No 10 lay helpless on the floor. (31-14) Hunt is a professional 9, Berthoumieu isn’t.
Harrison’s next effort, a cross-kick, finished at Dow’s feet. This was one of many near misses from both sides. We couldn’t then imagine how vital each one would prove.
To complete the first half, Marine Ménager scored the try I’d promised you in my preview. The English backs will look at their alignment there.
On 40 minutes France decided to play on from a penalty, and it almost worked. A fine move ended only when Ménager couldn’t hang on to a sharp pass as she threatened again.
Half-time: 31-14
What entertainment! What drama! England had their bonus-point wrapped up, but not the game.
As France tried to exit from defence Maggie Cogger-Orr spotted a crossing obstruction. Harrison kicked to the corner, but the pack couldn’t complete.
There was concern as Macdonald lay prostrate. Not another neck injury, surely? No, it was her right knee. She played on for three minutes, probably too long, before the management decided to bring her off. Helena Rowland substituted.
It was Joanna Grisez’s turn to make a searing run into enemy territory, but once more a knock-on and a penalty followed.
Now England found their best form again. Dow collected another long pass. The ball spread the other way, Harrison offered a dummy, made a half-break and the captain finished the job with a flourish. (38-21) That took them two points beyond their total here two years ago.
On 50 minutes all six front-rowers switched. The French trio won the first argument; the backs threatened and Kelly Arbey finished magnificently, first having to accept an imperfect long pass. 38-28
The longer the game went on, the more the crowd were reminded of the dramas of 2023, (33 unanswered points by the visitors after the break).
At this stage the Red Roses were looking less organised. It was the French dominating the collisions; Bern knocked on under pressure.
The scales swung again, England going on the rampage. Harrison found Dow with yet another long pass into open country. (43-28) The conversion hit the outside of the right post.
Holly Aitchison, now on at 12, slid a cunning ball through close to the line, but nothing came of it. England managed to stray offside at a very deliberate kick ahead, the sort where players ought to have time to think. They almost paid for their sins, but once more France lost possession two arms’ length from the line.
They compensated soon enough. Quick short passes gave Bourgeois just enough room to squeeze over on the right. To prove she didn’t need to run in under the posts, she converted from out there. 43-35
This was now the biggest total France had ever achieved in a crunch.
It needed a well-timed tackle by Sing to prevent another score by Grisez. England were living dangerously. But two minutes from time Grisez made her mark again. An English defender did lose her footing trying to cover, but this was another magnificent score by the French winger; she beat two would-be tacklers. And of course Bourgeois converted, keeping her 100% record safe. 43-42, if you please.
Time to close the eyes and pray?
Harrison wisely kicked off deep as the clock turned red. In a large dose of bathos Taïna Maka couldn’t field the ball cleanly. Cogger-Orr blew time.
Result: England 43 France 42
Player of the Match: Zoe Aldcroft
Referee: Maggie Cogger-Orr (NZR)
Attendance: 37,572
(am I allowed to add ‘Only’? – where did the other 20,926 go?
Do people really pick and choose between top games? Don’t they want to see them all?
Quite understandably, tears flowed on the French side. English joy was tinged with huge gulps of relief. How did they get away with that one?
Teams
England
1 Hannah Botterman 2 Lark Atkin-Davies 3 Maud Muir 4 Morwenna Talling 5 Abbie Ward 6 Zoe Aldcroft (captain) 7 Maddie Feaunati 8 Alex Matthews 9 Mo Hunt 10 Zoe Harrison 11 Claudia Macdonald 12 Tatyana Heard 13 Meg Jones 14 Abby Dow 15 Emma Sing
16 Amy Cokayne 17 Kelsey Clifford 18 Sarah Bern 19 Rosie Galligan 20 Abi Burton 21 Lucy Packer 22 Holly Aitchison 23 Helena Rowland
France
1 Yllana Brosseau 2 Manon Bigot 3 Assia Khalfaoui 4 Manaé Feleu (co-captain) 5 Madoussou Fall Raclot 6 Charlotte Escudero 7 Léa Champon 8 Téani Feleu 9 Pauline Bourdon Sansus 10 Carla Arbez 11 Kelly Arbey 12 Gabrielle Vernier 13 Marine Ménager (co-captain) 14 Joanna Grisez 15 Morgane Bourgeois
16 Elisa Riffonneau 17 Ambre Mwayembe 18 Rose Bernadou 19 Kiara Zago 20 Axelle Berthoumieu 21Taïna Maka 22 Alex Chambon 23 Lina Queyroi
An incomplete table
England 28 pts
France 19 pts
Ireland 11 pts
Scotland 9 pts
Italy can claim fourth place if they take 5 points off Wales tomorrow
Afterthoughts
France took the second half 21-12, reminiscent of previous comebacks.
Their bad news pre-match was that Romane Ménager’s absence was caused by yet another concussion.
She had suffered a 4-month lay-off for that reason. We can only wish the best for her. Séraphine Okemba had also suffered a concussion. Our thoughts go back to Kat Merchant, who retired prematurely from the game for the same reason.
The judgements of both managements must be mixed; pride in all the good things the crowd enjoyed, but concern at the many blemishes. If we consider the match (just this once) merely as preparation for bigger events to come, then there will be plenty of learnings. Neither set of selectors could turn their very best side out; John Mitchell almost certainly didn’t want to. He had explained that he needed to see more of certain players in pressurised conditions. And they came by the bucket-load. He admitted he knew “exactly” what Holly Aitchison was capable of at No 10; not so with Helena Rowland and Zoe Harrison.
There are French folk who still question selections, and especially the non-selection of players cast out. Leading that group are Gaëlle Hermet, till recently their captain, and Cyrielle Banet, a productive try-scorer on the wing. For Banet the counter-argument might well be that rivals like Joanna Grisez are the future of the team. But Hermet brought a surer hand to the tricky task of captaincy than I can detect in her successors. Her handicap was alleged to be lack of size and power on the flank, but in Round 4 the French pack was frequently driven back by the Azzurre, in particular from line-outs.
The new fashion item: the scarlet cowboy hat.
Features of the England game: no box-kicks by Hunt; all those long passes to the wing. Despite playing right through the series, Zoe Aldcroft still had enough breath to make a thank-you speech to her troops. But she showed a weakness: she almost dropped the trophy. Was it too heavy?
OEngland won their fourth Grand Slam on the bounce, a first.
