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England stamp World Cup final ticket: Talking points from England v France
By Lucy Lomax
England have booked their place in their seventh Rugby World Cup final in a row with a 35-17 victory over France in the second semi-final in Bristol.
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The Red Roses started the stronger of the two sides with Ellie Kildunne scoring the game’s first try inside five minutes, after racing over from inside her own half. France replied with a try on the 23rd minute mark when the ball was worked out wide and Nassira Konde dove over for Les Bleues’ first points.
France were conceding penalties and being dominated in the scrum and breakdown with Hannah Botterman key to disrupting the France attack.
The second half saw England start well with a try by Abby Dow ruled out before Amy Cokayne barged her way over in the huddle of a maul on 45 minutes, followed by Abbie Ward on the 58th minute, with a France try by Kelly Arbey once again out wide sandwiched in between.
The final quarter saw a rainbow and a Mexican wave, but the stand out moment was Kildunne’s smooth pick up from a loose kick forward by Marine Menager, the full back’s lightning speed reactions and feet saw her weave her way in and out of defenders to touch down in the opposite corner.
France responded with a second try for Konde but Megan Jones displayed a perfect pick up and lovely finish to seal the deal for England with Les Bleues set to play in yet another bronze final.
England fail to get their back line going for another week
Despite the two stunning individual scores from Kildunne, England have some amount of stars within their back line which you just feel aren’t quite clicking in the way they’d want. World player of the year Kildunne, Jones, Abby Dow and Jess Breach have all scored tries in this tournament but so far against sturdier opposition than Samoa, they haven’t fully got going.
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It’ll be concerning for John Mitchell that his backs despite spending the last ten weeks together in camp and having four World Cup games under their belts are still not firing on all cylinders, especially given the fact that Canada were telepathic with their handling and electric with ball in hand on Friday night.
England handling not good enough
The score board paints a different picture but when you’re the number one side in the world, high standards are expected and assumed, and when the team falls short of this, it is questioned and highlighted.
Despite the wet conditions, England’s handling was poor, knock ons and forward passes cost certain tries. Their inaccuracies in attack handed over a good deal of possession and territory to their opposition.
Who knows what weather will appear next Saturday, but England need to be prepared to play in rain or shine and bring a game plan suited to the conditions.
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This being said, despite the errors England are still too strong in other areas for any opposition they face, but will this be enough to fall back on against Canada next Saturday?
France go to the bronze final with their heads held high
It has been a disrupted week in the France camp with back row Axelle Berthoumieu’s lengthy ban for biting and co-captain Manae Feleu also missing the game due to a ban for a dangerous tackle.
However, considering the last time they played England back in August it was a 40-6 drubbing, they have cleaned up their act. Plus, the final score does not accurately display the balance in play with France replying almost every time England scored.
They’ll head into Saturday’s match needing to beat reigning champions New Zealand if they’re to walk away with a medal from this tournament.
Ellie Kildunne steals the show
You could tell player of the match Kildunne was gunning to get back out there after missing the quarter final win over Scotland due to concussion.
The full back was electric today scoring two tries, making four line breaks, beating 12 defenders and whilst at it made 273 metres with ball in hand.
Every time she touched the ball or her name was read over the speaker system, over 25,000 in the crowd roared with delight. She’s a ready made super star and the game (and England) is lucky to have her.
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