England vs France rugby LIVE: Result and reaction as England win Women’s Six Nations grand slam decider
England 38-33 France: A world-record crowd of more than 58,000 were at Twickenham to see England seal another Women’s Six Nations grand slam
England beat a spirited France 38-33 to win their fifth straight Women’s Six Nations title with a grand slam in front of a world-record crowd at Twickenham to give coach Simon Middleton a fitting farewell.
With 58,498 fans in attendance, England struggled with nerves at first before pulling away from fellow unbeaten side France to go into the break with a commanding 33-0 lead.
Abby Dow scored England’s first try and although Helena Rowland missed the conversion, she made no mistake when captain Marlie Packer and Alex Matthews powered over. France were also temporarily down to 14 players when Jessy Tremouliere was sent to the sin bin, which also welcomed Rose Bernadou later in the half, helping England to score from a penalty try before Zoe Aldcroft also went over.
But England took their foot off the gas in the second half and France got on the board when Emilie Boulard scored the opening try before Gabrielle Vernier went through the English defence for a second. Both teams then scored from rolling mauls to make it 38-21 to England with 65 minutes on the clock. With five minutes left, France rallied with two more tries from Emeline Gros and Cyrielle Banet, but Tremouliere missed the first conversion as England held on for another grand slam.
Relive England’s historic win over France in the Women’s Six Nations, below
England vs France: Women’s Six Nations updates
England vs France is due to kick off at 1pm BST on Saturday 29 April at Twickenham Stadium in London.
How can I watch it?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the grand slam decider live on BBC Two, with coverage from 12.30pm BST. Coverage will also be available via the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
England vs France LIVE: Women’s Six Nations updates
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam decider between England and France.
The record attendance for a women’s rugby fixture is set to be smashed as the Red Roses take to Twickenham for the first time in a standalone fixture, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. England and France have once again swept the opposition aside ahead of the final weekend of this year’s Six Nations and the winner will claim the title, as well as the Grand Slam.
England are hoping to win the Six Nations for a fifth year in a row while France are out for revenge after their semi-final defeat to the Red Roses at the World Cup last autumn. While England have had the edge in this rivalry in recent years, France have always pushed them close and will be determined to spoil the Twickenham party with over 50,000 tickets sold for the Six Nations decider.
Follow live updates from England vs France in today’s live blog.
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