Oh dear! The French selection looks the way every weak-kneed England fan must have feared, hideously strong. Romane Ménager returns at No 8 to nobody’s surprise. It’s when we spot the names Corson and Trémoulière hiding on the bench that we get an idea of the strength of the squad. Annick Hayraud has kept faith
England Women head coach Simon Middleton has named his team to play France in the Women’s Six Nations final. The match takes place at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday 24 April, kick-off 2pm live on BBC Two. Emily Scarratt captains the side with regular skipper Sarah Hunter among the finishers. Abbie Ward (lock) and Marlie Packer
Match officials Sara Cox (RFU), Hollie Davidson (SRU) and Clara Munarini (FIR) are set to take charge of the Women’s Six Nations ‘Super Saturday’ finals day on 24 April. Cox will officiate the opening match of the day when Ireland host Italy, who have climbed to fifth in the World Rugby Women’s Rankings, at Energia
What a weekend to look forward to! For the first time there will be a proper final to the famous tournament. Despite that added attraction I hope it will be the last. The problem of narrowing standards within the six unions still hasn’t been solved. For all the advances a team like Scotland have made
The writing was on the wall from the outset. At the first scrum Italy drove the hosts rearwards. From then on they showed the same attacking verve as in Parma against the English. Only here they retained their composure for most of the game. Scotland had good moments, as their 20 points reveal, but were
Last week Ireland ran seven tries past hapless Wales. Today back home they leaked eight tries to a rampant French side who made them look ordinary again. Such are the gulfs set between the competing nations; twas ever thus. The Irish started well enough: Emeline Gros made two errors, first not catching the kick-off, then
While eyes are turned towards Dublin to see who will earn the right to face England in the final, there is a groundswell of support for the Welsh women. It is reminiscent of the reaction to Ireland’s disappointment at the 2017 World Cup; the sense of being let down is evident. The WRU needs to
Irish Travel ban The Ireland RFU is seeking urgent talks with its government over plans to introduce a quarantine period on people arriving from France. It would start on Thursday, just two days before the much anticipated clash between Ireland and France at Energia Park Dublin. One alternative receiving active attention is a move to
For a player who started the last World Cup final, this was not a first audition by any means, but in victory over Italy Meg Jones served a most pleasing reminder of her feature-length credentials after starring on the smaller screen. It feels peculiar to talk of this as an opportunity seized given Jones’ extensive
Your choice: ‘20 training camps since our last international against Italy on 24 October 2020’ or ‘we played last week’. I hope you went for the first option Ireland blew Wales off the map. If Warren Abrahams sought brave words to explain last week’s effort in France, his hair may be turning grey after this
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