After two consecutive changes in the lower reaches of the management of les Bleues, a third is the most dramatic and far-reaching: Thomas Darracq, brought in last year to a new position termed ‘Responsable Sportif’ for Women’s Rugby continues his giddy rise by being appointed ‘Sélectionneur-entraîneur’ (Selector-Coach), a new position, but one that places him
It’s not unusual to find players retiring at the end of a busy season, least of all after a World Cup, but news that both Laure Sansus and Céline Ferer are planning to hang up their boots comes as a real shock. Sansus, only 27 years old and the 2022 Six Nations Player of the
On 19 April I was unwise enough to refer to the three nations at the top table, England, New Zealand and France. It was all about world rankings. I pointed to the narrow margin between the latter two: 88.58 and 88.43 Then came the Big Battle between France and England at Bayonne. Result: not only
England chalked up their tenth win on the trot over France to gain a fourth consecutive Grand Slam. This was the first time for exactly a year England had faced the possibility of losing. They last played France in the ‘lights out’ match in Lille on 30 April 2021. And les Bleues gave them a
Question: does Simon Middleton need his strongest possible side out to face France? Yes: A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam and not to be taken lightly. Rankings are at stake. England sit a proud top; they don’t want to see the gap between them and the chasers narrow by even a decimal pointlet. A
What do these scores have in common? They are in chronological order: 12-10 10-10 5-15 7-0 14-12 Yes, they are the half-time scores in the last five England-France matches (England score shown first). All ended in England victories, the only wide margin being the 33-10 win in Grenoble (that’s the 10-10). Even that job saw
Starters (For your main course, please scroll down the menu) This was Wales’ second chance to test themselves against one of the big beasts, and a fourth time Ioan Cunningham could refine his squad selection. He restored his captain to the No 8 slot and reintroduced Beth Lewis at open-side. Leaving Sioned Harries on the bench
Wales are right up against as they come to face France at the Arms Park on Friday evening. They haven’t won in the last five contests, the French topping 50 points over the last three. Ioan Cunningham has adjusted his starting 15 again, restoring his captain to No 8 and bringing Beth Lewis in on
A Health Check for England, France and New Zealand Despite all the big advances in women’s rugby in 2022 there are still very few places at the top table. Here’s a look at the three leading nations to see how they compare and contrast: England, France and New Zealand. That is their alphabetical order, and
Annick Hayraud has named a squad of 33 players to represent France in the last two rounds of the 2022 Six Nations ANNERY Julie (Stade Français), BANET Cyrielle (Montpellier), BERNADOU Rose (Montpellier), BERTHOUMIEU Axelle (Blagnac), BOUJARD Caroline (Montpellier), BOULARD Émilie (Chilly Mazarin), BROSSEAU Yllana (Stade Bordelais), CASTEL Marie Aurélie (Stade Rennais), CHAMBON Alexandra (Grenoble), DESHAYES
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