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05/17 14:34 CDT England thumps France to seal an eighth straight Women's Six
Nations title and Grand Slam
England thumps France to seal an eighth straight Women's Six Nations title and
Grand Slam
By FOSTER NIUMATA
Associated Press
England won a record eighth consecutive Women's Six Nations title and fifth
successive Grand Slam after beating host France 43-28 on Sunday.
Unbeaten France with home advantage in Bordeaux and backing from its largest
ever home crowd was expected to seriously threaten England's relentless
domination of the championship. But it struggled in the set-pieces.
England, with only six survivors from its Rugby World Cup champion team last
September, ultimately cruised to the six-try victory enhanced by Zoe Harrison's
unerring right boot. Harrison landed six of seven goalkicks and 29 of 31 in the
tournament.
The English extended their world record winning streak to 38 matches --- and 68
from 69 games since 2019 --- which won't be challenged again until September
when they host No. 2-ranked New Zealand and No. 3 Canada in the WXV.
England was at its most vulnerable in years with more than a dozen regulars out
injured or pregnant. But players new or not capped in three years melded
superbly with world-class performers such as first-time captain Megan Jones,
Ellie Kildunne, Amy Cokayne and Sadia Kabeya.
Coach John Mitchell, who took over the Red Roses in autumn 2023 and has yet to
oversee a loss, believed the number of missing players made winning their 22nd
Six Nations from 31 championships harder than winning the World Cup.
"It was great to win a World Cup at home but what we've navigated through this
tournament, the youth coming through, the mates at home becoming mums or going
through rehab ... these girls are so brave," he said. "They're unbelievably
driven."
Kildunne was named player of the match after scoring two tries along with Jess
Breach. Cokayne touched down in all five tests and Kabeya notched 27 tackles
and had seemingly as many carries.
A patient England weathered a ferocious French start to lead the
winner-takes-all finale 26-7 by halftime. While England is a fast starter,
France is renowned as a fast finisher and fought back to trail only 29-21 with
a quarter to go.
But that's as close as France got in front of a record home crowd of 35,062.
Eventually, chief playmaker Pauline Bourdon Sansus, the only survivor of
France's last win over England in 2018 --- also England's last defeat in the
championship --- came off but her scrumhalf replacement, Alexandra Chambon, was
sin-binned.
England, after conceding nine tries in its previous two matches, restricted the
best defensive team to four tries, two by Bourdon Sansus, and Jones was proud.
"We've adapted so well," Jones said. "We faced so much adversity This group is
so resilient, I'm so proud of them. We asked for a good defensive set because
everyone was doubting our defense and we fronted up and we showed what
England's about."
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
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