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England score six against France for sixth consecutive Six Nations title
England sealed their sixth consecutive Women’s Six Nations title, and their first with John Mitchell at the helm, with a 42-21 win over France.
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In front of a record French crowd of 28,023 supporters, England won their third consecutive Grand Slam with five tries from the forward pack in what was their 29th unbeaten match in the competition.
First-half tries from Maud Muir, Alex Matthews, Megan Jones, Amy Cokayne, and Marlie Packer gave England a 21-point lead at half-time with scores from Gabrielle Vernier and Marine Menager unable to close the gap.
Player of the match Matthews scored a second try after the break, as did Menager, but with France reduced to 14 players as a result of Assia Khalfaoui’s red card, the deficit was too much for the home side to reduce.
England’s defence stood firm in the second half to deny France the opportunity to get back into the game, and the five tries in the first half set them up with the impressive foothold that delivered the final score.
England started with intent in Bordeaux as Muir crashed over the line next to the posts in the fourth minute, duly converted by Bristol Bears’ Holly Aitchison.
A second followed eight minutes later as England once again broke down the French defence, this time through Matthews who powered across the whitewash.
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France bit back through a try from Vernier who ran the perfect line to slice through a gap in the Red Roses line to score their first of the match, converted by Lina Queyroi.
Leicester Tigers centre Jones poached a pass from Emilie Boulard inside the France 22 to score England’s third, putting on the afterburners to do the damage uncontested after slipping through the smallest of gaps with a well-read pick, brilliantly converted again by Aitchison.
France managed to reduce the gap again within a matter of minutes, Menager the scorer this time as Pauline Bourdon Sansus provided a perfect pass for the winger who slipped through England’s grasp with pace to dot down near the posts.
Despite France’s best efforts, England went into the break with five tries to their name after two brawny mauls from the Red Roses saw Packer and Cokayne both add their names to the scoresheet before 40 minutes were up. Thanks to five pinpoint conversions from Aitchison, John Mitchell’s side led 35-14 at the break and were well on their way to a sixth consecutive Six Nations title.
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The second half started on a negative note for France as Khalfaoui was shown a yellow card, her second in the championship, for making head contact. This was later upgraded to a red card after a bunker review, leaving France with 14 players for the remaining 31 minutes.
Despite France’s deficit, the second half remained scoreless until the 69th minute when Menager scored her second try. A superb one-handed take from fellow try-scorer Vernier set up the attack which freed the winger to score the first points of the second half, converted by Queyroi, who added the extras to all three tries scored by the home side.
Menager wasn’t the only player who scored a brace as England’s Matthews added her second after another strong carrying effort from the forwards to eventually break down the 14-woman French defence. Aitchison converted to add the final points to the scoreboard and with it a round off a perfect afternoon from the tee.
In the 76th minute, Lucy Packer’s heroics denied France a fourth try as she held them up solo, and England remained ahead to see out the match to secure a dominant 21-point victory in a thrilling final match of the 2024 Women’s Six Nations.
Both England and France will compete in WXV 1 in Canada this September where England will look to defend their maiden title from last year.
Ireland will join them in Canada after an impressive final-round win in an attritional match against Scotland, which also saw them qualify for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
The remaining three places in WXV 1 will be decided in the Pacific Four Series which kicks off on Sunday 28th April with USA vs Canada, and can be viewed in the United Kingdom for free on RugbyPass TV here.
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is coming to England. Register now here to be the first to hear about tickets.
Comments on RugbyPass
Not sure they the article doesn’t hit on TMO this year, that’s were they were putting focus right. The fact the other areas haven’t improved shows just how poor the comp is at focusing on its direction. There should still have been further gains in both those areas this year even it if didn’t have the same focus as others. The whistle to restart time, like touch finders of 26 seconds, surely has to be a key focus area next year. Why should a side be given so much time to kick for touch? Cut that down to 5 or 10 seconds, penalties both become less of key stalling/defensive strategy, and become more ‘live’ with tap kicks becoming much more favourable quick actions. Theres absolutely no reason we have to wait over 10 secs for the preferred kicker to walk up and try and take maximum advantage, especially when half the time its just a delay tactic to give the forwards time to plan, as the kicker hardly even trys to find the corner with his kick, anyone could have kicked it straight out for the lineout.
25 Go to commentsShame. Hope something else can be arranged.
2 Go to commentsTitans of under-20s rugby …. Reporters tired verbiage akin to calling every player a “star” and any Fijian side as ”Flying”. The French English and Irish are the Titans of U20 rugby. Noone in the South is now. This tournament is however, good prep to regain titan status.
1 Go to commentsWill be humbling coming back and playing second fiddle to Dmac.
2 Go to commentsSounds like quite a bit of development has occurred regarding Mo’unga’s situation. Either NZR has stepped up their offer (big time) or RMo has had a reality check on what it will be like to be outside of the high performance environment of AB rugby. Maybe both. It reads like there are only a few remaining details to be sorted out before it is a done deal.
2 Go to commentsCurrently, a prop that has been substituted can go back on field if his original replacement gets injured. Can a red carded prop go back if his replacement gets injured, or will it be uncontested scrums?
12 Go to commentsWhat about a free kick from a scrum? Can you call another scrum? Or are they just giving straight penalties now?
32 Go to commentsLoved that comment by Andrew that the ‘water boys’ rule was changed in 2020 just to stymie the Boks!
32 Go to commentsOne of the best the Boks have ever produced. PSDT has an engine that goes non-stop for the full 80 min.
5 Go to commentsThe real deal.
5 Go to commentsIt’s been said that Nienaber will head back to SA too before next World Cup , hoarding all the amazing IP gained in Irish system … get a grip … Irish system needs to Milk the likes of Barrett . First time a leading all Black in his prime has gone to Ireland for any period of time . Enjoy it .
21 Go to comments20 min RC is the only good solution of a bunch of bad solutions. Ridiculous that it has taken this long and caused so many uneven contests. In general these are all very good changes - one is surprised that NH brokers were able to see sense at long last.
12 Go to comments“While a red card will mean a temporary team disadvantage, the replacement system will focus punishment on the offending player instead of disrupting the game itself.” This might work for amateur rugby, where players just want to be on the pitch for as long as possible, but hopefully we’ve got to a point where top level professionals care about the success of their team much more than about whether they personally are on the pitch or not.
12 Go to commentsa lot of focus on the targeting of south africa, but aspects of this are positive. The croc roll; the offside law; and time limits on set pieces are all good. calling for a mark off kick offs is baffling, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out in practice
32 Go to commentsSpeeding the game up is great, but I think we will find that the increase in viewership this year mostly comes down to the competition being more competitive…the fall of the Crusaders has been a boon for viewership. This should be at the heart of super rugby changes - how to make the comp more even
25 Go to commentsThe fact that the press were largely to blame for his taking a break is nothing short of disgusting. He’s made a few mistakes but difficult to name a player of any substance who gives it a full go hasn’t also made mistakes? On behalf of a large number of Bokke fans, bring back Farrell !!!!!
2 Go to commentsPSTD is a fantastic flanker. He could benefit from a bit of self-promotion / flair and he is not quite the danger man that Ardie is. That said, he is my 1st pick to build a backrow around. His speed and hustle made up for Duane who got quite a bit slower at the 8.
5 Go to commentssurprised, disco lights haven't been banned by world rugby board
32 Go to commentsToo many changes. Too often. I’m tired of this WR administration. How do we vote these fockers out? Bill needs to go.
32 Go to commentsDu Toit, 2 time W.Cup winner yet rarely mentioned a “Great “…if one looks back on his stellar carrier perhaps someone will one day elevate him to “Richie” status…a quiet, polite yet devastating loose forward that knew action speaks louder than words..
5 Go to comments