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France announce their Semi-final Squad

The excellent news for France is that Romane Ménager is pronounced fit to play against New Zealand in the RWC semi-final. That had seemed very unlikely as she looked distinctly groggy after making a tackle in the pool-stage match against England. But she was allowed to restart (non-contact) training as long ago as mid-October. Her

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France squeeze the life out of Fijiana

World Cup – Round Three The Fijians have captured the hearts of all rugby-lovers by their approach to the game. But the pool-draw did them no favours, bringing them up against world-ranked teams 1 and 4. They managed three splendid tries against England a fortnight ago, then beat fellow hopefuls the Boks, only to run

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Source: Fiona Goodall - World Rugby via Getty Images

La Crunch

It was the pool fixture that caught the eye from the moment the Rugby World Cup draw was made. England and France, the two leading sides in Europe filed alongside one another in Pool C, a clash of the class of the north in Northland and an October 15 date ringed in the calendar. England’s

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Source: Fiona Goodall - World Rugby via Getty Images

A Magnificent Spectacle

England v France Result: England 13 France 7 Player of the Match: Alex Matthews This was a first chance for Kiwis to experience a Crunch live. Now they know exactly what all the fuss is about. Sadly the game was distorted early on by two vital injuries to leading French players, Laure Sansus and Romane

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Source: INPHO

One Change is as good as a complete Change

England v France World Cup, Round Two At last a meeting between two top-rated teams in a setting even more prestigious than the 6 Nations. England So the English player-choice for the Fiji game was merely a run-out for the big test against the French. To considerable surprise, Simon Middleton has made only one change

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Source: INPHO

Narrow Margins

The wise coaches say you learn more from your losses than your wins. That may well be the watchword for the Red Roses as they step closer to a new World Cup campaign. Many of the younger members of the squad have not yet experienced a loss in an English shirt. But those who have

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Source: INPHO

France’s RWC Squad of 32

The second World Cup squad to pass before my eyes is a significant one, France As with Canada’s 32, announced last week, the French squad shows unfortunate absences, in this case caused by ill-timed injury. The two outstanding wingers, Cyrielle Banet, Caroline Boujard, are both missing from action. The French management have pulled a rabbit

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Source: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

France’s 23 for second Italy Test

To show how much England’s 23 might change for the second test against Wales, we need only glance at France’s side for their return test against Italy. Thomas Darracq has really thrown his cards in the air to see how they fall back to earth again. Several striking experiments. The 23: 1 Deshayes 2 Sochat

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Source: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

France v Italy

Stade des Arboras, Nice Result: France 21 italy 0 This really was a strange game, played in front of a tiny crowd, barely over 3,000, in huge contrast to the vast gates attracted to watch Les Bleues over recent matches. And the French squad seemed to react to the lack of atmosphere. The scoring was

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