England stormed to a 16th consecutive win over France in their final warmup match before the World Cup kicks off in two weeks. After a close-run Six Nations finale in April England’s 6-40 win in Mont-de-Marsan was a reminder of the physical gulf between the cross-Channel rivals, with the visitors’ pack instrumental in all six of their tries.
It was fitting that the game, a friendly only in name, was scheduled amid the street festival season in south-west France – matches against Les Bleues are rarely dull affairs, even if the Red Roses have dominated Le Crunch for the last seven years.
Both teams fielded relatively full-strength sides at the Stade André-et-Guy-Boniface, home to the men’s Pro D2 side Stade Montois, under heatwave temperatures. For John Mitchell’s team, Marlie Packer’s suspension and the head injury absence of Emily Scarratt were compensated for by the returns of Ellie Kildunne and the captain, Zoe Aldcroft.
The hosts had been keen to avoid the kind of lethargic start that has often cost them dear against elite teams. England, though, picked up where they left off in the 97-7 win against Spain, with a physically dominant start, spending most of the first 40 minutes in France’s half.
Quick Guide
France 6-40 England: teams and scorers
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France Bourgeois; Grisez, Ménager (Cissokho 59), Neisen, Arbey; Arbez (Tuy 66), Chambon; T Feleu, Champon (Queyroi 66), Escudero, Fall, Raclot (Ikahehegi 70), M Feleu (Maka 59), Bernadou (Khalfaoui h/t), Bigot (Riffoneau 50), Deshaye (Brosseau 50). Sin-bin M Feleu 29. Pen Bourgeois (2).
England Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach (Sing 72); Harrison, Hunt; Matthews, Kabeya (Ward 63), Aldcroft, Ward (Galligan 56), Talling (Feunati 56), Muir (Bern 56), Cokayne (Atkin-Davies 56), Botterman (Clifford 56). Tries Talling, Cokayne, Muir, Jones, Atkin-Davies (2). Cons Harrison (5)
Referee Aimée Barrett-Theron (SA).
The visitors were ahead within four minutes, Morwenna Talling scoring from a driving maul on the left after a lineout five metres out. The Red Roses’ second try 10 minutes later came from the same routine, this time from the right and scored by Amy Cokayne.
While Les Bleues did admirably to withstand the barrage of England attacks over the next 15 minutes, they were dealt another blow when their captain, Manaé Feleu, was shown a yellow card on the half-hour mark.
France managed their first foray into England’s 22 a few minutes later, yielding a penalty converted by Morgane Bourgeois. The Six Nations champions eventually made the most of their numerical advantage, though, with another driving maul pushing Maud Muir over the line.
As has often been the case recent Le Crunch clashes, France emerged for the second half with a newfound urgency. Bourgeois added another three points within minutes of the restart, after an impressive drive through the heart of the England defence by Teani Feleu.
England soon added a fourth try to dash any hopes of a comeback, though, with Megan Jones running in after a quick penalty from a five-metre scrum. The final half-hour was nevertheless a more balanced affair, with France stretching the opposition defence several times but undermining their efforts with repeated handling errors and poor discipline.
Momentum swung back in England’s direction in the final 10 minutes. After being held up by excellent France defence a couple of times, Lark Atkin-Davies eventually went over for the visitors’ fifth try five minutes from time. The Bristol front-rower soon scored her second in similar fashion, completing an evening of forward supremacy.
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A late break from Joanna Grisez, appeared to promise a consolation try, taking Les Bleues to within five metres of the try-line. The resulting penalty was taken quickly, but a long kick straight into touch dashed any hopes of a score to get the 7,500-strong crowd back on their feet.
While both sets of coaches had insisted before the match that the final result would not be their primary concern, a 16th consecutive win for England over France (and their biggest in 15 years) will provide vindication of the work done over their summer-long training camp.
“It’s a privilege to have this pressure,” Mitchell explained, when asked about the expectations for England ahead of their home World Cup. “We’ve earned it over this three-year cycle, it’s not something we’re going to walk away from. We’ve worked hard to be in this position.”
For the hosts, their lone warmup match offered something of a reality check. “We’re disappointed, because clearly we didn’t show what we’ve worked on this summer,” France’s coach Gaëlle Mignot lamented. “But we’re a resilient team, we’ll get back to work.”
“We wanted to play against England to get an idea of how we were doing, and that’s definitely what happened tonight. We know that if we don’t improve in every sector, we’ll have a hard time during the tournament.”
The two sides are expected to meet again in five weeks’ time, this time in Bristol for a blockbuster World Cup semi-final. Before then, England face USA in Sunderland on 22 August in the tournament’s curtain-raiser, while Les Bleues take on Italy in Exeter the following day.