ENGLAND AND FRANCE will go head-to-head at Twickenham next weekend for the women’s Grand Slam, as both sides won with varying degrees of comfort on Saturday.
Champions England easily swatted aside Scotland 59-7, running in nine tries to extend their winning run to 24 games.
England led 42-0 at half-time, with Kelsey Clifford, Marlie Packer, captain Zoe Aldcroft, wing Claudia MacDonald, lock Abbie Ward, and Lark Atkin-Davies’s all running in tries.
England crossed thrice more after the break, with Lisa Thomson getting Scotland off the mark by crossing from a rolling maul.
England must beat France next week to secure a fourth-straight Grand Slam.
France are also going for the Slam, having come from 21-12 behind at half-time to beat Italy 34-21 in Parma on Saturday.
However, the laboured manner of the victory suggests England will have little trouble in successfully defending their title.
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The French – the last side to beat England in the competition, but that was back in 2018 — relied on two late tries.
Marine Menager and Alexandra Chambon finally put distance between themselves and their resilient hosts.
“We said at half-time, do not lose our heads,” said Menager, whose twin sister Romane scored a try earlier in the second half.
“The key was not to panic, to slowly regain a foothold in the match.
“That is what we did.”
The Italians fully deserved their lead at half-time, outscoring the visitors three tries to two, hooker Silvia Turani touching down their third right on the stroke of half-time.
Morgane Bourgeois, scorer of one of the French tries in the first half, reduced the deficit with a penalty in front of the posts early in the second half.
However, this failed to spark a points avalanche by the French, whose gamble to spurn a kick at goal and go for a try failed as sterling Italian defence forced a turnover.
Nevertheless, eventually French pressure told, flanker Romane Menager going over under the posts, and Bourgeois converted to give them the lead in the 55th minute.
Bourgeois, though, missed a great opportunity to extend the lead, sending a kickable penalty wide of the posts with 10 minutes remaining.
The Bordeaux star was guilty of an even worse miss three minutes later, failing to convert from in front of the posts.
Fortunately for her, first Marine Menager and then Chambon wore down the tired Italian defence to put a more positive look to the scoreboard than the victors’ performance merited.
Their scrum-half, Pauline Bourdon Sansu,s said people may write off their chances, but they would go to England with belief in themselves.
“We will play our game, we have nothing to lose,” she said.
“We have been chasing this prize since 2018, and we want to end that drought.”
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Six Nations: England and France secure wins to set up Grand Slam showdown
LAST UPDATE | 19 Apr
ENGLAND AND FRANCE will go head-to-head at Twickenham next weekend for the women’s Grand Slam, as both sides won with varying degrees of comfort on Saturday.
Champions England easily swatted aside Scotland 59-7, running in nine tries to extend their winning run to 24 games.
England led 42-0 at half-time, with Kelsey Clifford, Marlie Packer, captain Zoe Aldcroft, wing Claudia MacDonald, lock Abbie Ward, and Lark Atkin-Davies’s all running in tries.
England crossed thrice more after the break, with Lisa Thomson getting Scotland off the mark by crossing from a rolling maul.
England must beat France next week to secure a fourth-straight Grand Slam.
France are also going for the Slam, having come from 21-12 behind at half-time to beat Italy 34-21 in Parma on Saturday.
However, the laboured manner of the victory suggests England will have little trouble in successfully defending their title.
The French – the last side to beat England in the competition, but that was back in 2018 — relied on two late tries.
Marine Menager and Alexandra Chambon finally put distance between themselves and their resilient hosts.
“We said at half-time, do not lose our heads,” said Menager, whose twin sister Romane scored a try earlier in the second half.
“The key was not to panic, to slowly regain a foothold in the match.
“That is what we did.”
The Italians fully deserved their lead at half-time, outscoring the visitors three tries to two, hooker Silvia Turani touching down their third right on the stroke of half-time.
Morgane Bourgeois, scorer of one of the French tries in the first half, reduced the deficit with a penalty in front of the posts early in the second half.
However, this failed to spark a points avalanche by the French, whose gamble to spurn a kick at goal and go for a try failed as sterling Italian defence forced a turnover.
Nevertheless, eventually French pressure told, flanker Romane Menager going over under the posts, and Bourgeois converted to give them the lead in the 55th minute.
Bourgeois, though, missed a great opportunity to extend the lead, sending a kickable penalty wide of the posts with 10 minutes remaining.
The Bordeaux star was guilty of an even worse miss three minutes later, failing to convert from in front of the posts.
Fortunately for her, first Marine Menager and then Chambon wore down the tired Italian defence to put a more positive look to the scoreboard than the victors’ performance merited.
Their scrum-half, Pauline Bourdon Sansu,s said people may write off their chances, but they would go to England with belief in themselves.
“We will play our game, we have nothing to lose,” she said.
“We have been chasing this prize since 2018, and we want to end that drought.”
– © AFP 2025, with reporting by Gavin Cooney
Updated at 21.37
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