New Zealand’s Black Ferns may be world champions, but there is no game in women’s rugby in the northern hemisphere that even comes close to England v France.
The Red Roses have been absolutely dominant of late and travel to Stade Chaban-Delmas on Saturday looking to win their third consecutive Grand Slam – no one has ever won more than three clean games in a row – and their sixth consecutive title.
But while England regularly beat their Celtic neighbors and Italy by more than 30 or 40 points (sometimes significantly more), the tests against France are always a little more competitive.
And if the games take place in France, even more so.
In the historic Grand Slam decider between the two teams last year – the Red Roses’ first independent test at Twickenham in front of a world record crowd of 58,498 spectators – France beat England with a 38:33 victory for the Red Roses.
At the 2022 World Cup pool meeting, France were arguably the better team as England narrowly beat Auckland 13-7, while at the 2022 Six Nations meeting England came from behind to win 24-12 in Bayonne.
In 2021, England beat France twice by the narrowest of margins: 17-15 at Lille, as France again prevailed 10-6 in the game that was controversially abandoned with 18 minutes left due to a floodlight failure at Twickenham in the Six Nations, when Emily Scarratt scored an insurance penalty in the last minute.
The duels between Red Roses and France are without exception close and hard-fought tests
In 2020 and 2019, England also won competitions by two points: Scarratt scored a penalty to win 25-23 at Twickenham, and Lydia Thompson scored in the final minute to win 17-15 at Sandy Park.
Without exception, competitions are close and determine titles. In fact, in the last Six Nations trophy in 2018, the French beat England with a last-minute try in Grenoble.
“I’m excited, it’s Test rugby and we’re training hard for it. “What we want is that competition and that challenge,” Red Roses No. 8 Alex Matthews said.
Red Roses No.8 Alex Matthews says they expect France to ‘reach a new level’
“France always competes against us and takes us to new levels. They’ve grown over the course of the season, but they’ll definitely show up and I think they’ll show something we haven’t seen in the last few weeks.”
“We have to be prepared for all options and do our best.”
Mitchell wants the Red Roses to play on the sidelines despite the Women’s Six Nations red cards
In November 2022, the Red Roses met New Zealand as big favorites in the World Cup final at Eden Park. Wing Thompson was sent off in the 18th minute for a high tackle, causing England to suffer a heavy loss and suffer a 34-31 defeat.
Although the Red Roses dominated world football in the run-up to the tournament, they failed at the final hurdle. The big picture is that they haven’t won a World Cup since 2014.
This year, the Red Roses have been shown two red cards in four games, with No.8 Sarah Beckett sent off for a dangerous free throw after 11 minutes in the opening game against Italy and hooker Amy Cokayne sent off for a dangerous tackle after two yellow cards Scotland was put in the 55th minute.
Despite this, Mitchell has instructed his England team to continue playing at their best despite the disciplinary problems that have marred their season so far.
Mitchell wants England to continue to “play on the sidelines” despite two red cards in four Six Nations Tests.
In both Tests, England beat their opponents despite being reduced to 14 players, while scrum-half Lucy Packer also committed an offense in the win over Ireland, giving away a penalty try for a mole. Center player Helena Rowland also suffered a defeat against Italy, which temporarily reduced England to 13 players in Parma.
While Mitchell wants to see technique refined where needed, he sees his team’s physicality as an important weapon.
“I want us to continue playing on the edge, but I also want us to be clear about how we need to change our behavior,” said the Red Roses head coach.
Hooker Amy Cokayne received a red card after two yellow cards for dangerous tackling in Round 3 against Scotland
“In Amy’s incident, she needs to get her head under control. Obviously it’s something that’s left up to the individual to change.”
“We learned some good things from it, but there’s no way we’re going to get away from being on the sidelines. That’s what drives us. That’s what the game is about and we want to convert defense into points.”
No. 8 Sarah Beckett received a red card for a dangerous exit in Round 1 against Italy
It hasn’t proven costly against teams beaten 48-0, 46-10, 46-0 and 88-10 this year, but an early red card away from home in France would change the game, as it did in the World Cup -Final was the case.
England must be mindful of their discipline to avoid previous costly mistakes on the biggest occasions.
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