Morgane Bourgeois’ Women's Six Nations notebook: Chapter 6

The final week ran a bit longer, with an extra recovery day added in. Two complete days off, all dedicated to rest – a really crucial element at this stage of the tournament. You could tell everyone needed it, physically and mentally.

Monday evening saw the initiation of the newcomers. A way to officially mark their arrival into the XV de France family, though in a more relaxed atmosphere than the traditional cap ceremony.

The English “book” that travels teams

After the Scotland match, Elisa Riffonneau received a rather unusual notebook. An idea started by two English players, Maud Muir and Mackenzie Carson: they pass this “book” around to each team, asking them to fill a few pages in their own style.

Anything goes: stories, team pictures, drawings, cut-outs… a really nice concept. We actually spent our day off on it. We had great fun filling it in, discovering what other nations had left before us, and adding our own piece of history to the book. It was almost a shame we couldn’t keep it.

Facing the world’s best

Regarding the match, I honestly think we’ve never been so ready for a Crunch. At least, I’d never felt the group so prepared: mentally, strategically, collectively. We approached this encounter with real confidence, and a genuine belief there was something to go and get.

Frankly, it was frustrating not being able to take part, because we all felt this might be the right year.

But across from us stood the best team in the world. A team capable of controlling the tempo from start to finish, managing their strong periods and weak ones perfectly, and above all feeding off the slightest mistake you give them. The pattern repeats itself: we hope, we dream, but we come up short. Not far off, but punished all the same.

François made us a promise

This defeat happened in a nearly full Stade Atlantique, supported by a new attendance record for a women’s rugby match in France: 35,000 people.

In his end-of-tournament speech, François [Ratier, France head coach] made us a promise: we will finally beat this team during this cycle.

This tournament marked the beginning of a new cycle, the first milestone on a long road toward the next Women’s Rugby World Cup. The result isn’t necessarily what we’d hoped for, but we’ve laid a foundation. And despite everything, one conviction remains; the future belongs to us.