Preview: France v Red Roses
Everything you need to know ahead of the Red Roses' Six Nations Grand Slam decider against France
John Mitchell's Red Roses travel to Bordeaux in search of a sixth successive Guinness Women's Six Nations title and a third successive Grand Slam after winning all four games in their 2024 campaign so far.
A 0-48 victory over Italy in Parma staged the perfect opening for the Red Roses before they hosts Wales at Bristol's Ashton Gate Stadium. They finished the game 46-10 winners to claim their spot at the top of the Guinness Women's Six Nations table, before travelling to Edinburgh and securing another eight-try, 0-46 victory.
| When? | Saturday 27 April |
| Where? | Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux |
| Kick off | 16:45 BST |
| Where can I watch? | BBC ONE |
- Red Roses team to face France in Bordeaux
- Sadia Kabeya's Six Nations Column | France Week
- John Mitchell's All In
Last week's Twickenham showdown saw the Red Roses return to the home of England Rugby for their standalone fixture against Ireland in front of 48,778 fans. Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne each scored hat-tricks as their side cruised to an 88-10 victory.
VIEWS FROM CAMP
John Mitchell: "Every competition you go into you always look forward to presenting the opportunity to get something out of it. France are a good side so it’s exciting to be in this position.
"France have a particular way they want to get access into the game and and they always pride themselves on set piece, as we do, hence the reason we've gone for this team mix. We have some advantages ourselves in terms of mobility and that's critical to the way we play.
"France have been chipping away quite thoroughly, they’ve got their way and they put away Wales last weekend rather easily. They’ll be buoyed by the fact they’re at home but we’re looking forward to embracing and walking into that challenge.
"We’re very specific in the way we play. It’s a game that is working and we think it’s the right way. We have got better as the competition has progressed, but who says there is a limit on this style that we produced last week? We have the ability to dial it up again this weekend so it certainly won't be stopping and it will continue to evolve.
"This group sets such high standards that we’ll never be satisfied. We’ll always want to be better."
Marlie Packer: "We know what the French crowd are going to bring and we’ll rise to the occasion. Twickenham was an amazing day for us but that's in the past. If we bring a brand of rugby like we did at Twickenham I think the crowd will start cheering our way.
"Everyone wants to be in that starting team, so naturally at the beginning of the week you get some disappointed players but as soon as the sessions begins everyone switches into their roles, and everyone has a role to play. It’s very special in this squad at the moment and we’re in a very good place."
Alex Matthews: "I’m excited, it’s Test match rugby and that’s what we train hard for. What we want is that competition and that challenge. France always show up against us and bring another level. They have been growing throughout the campaign, but they will definitely show up and I think show something that we haven’t seen so far over the last few weeks. We have to be ready for all options and give it our best."
Louis Deacon: "We are blessed that we have huge depth in our squad and are able to go 15 on 15 all the time in training and it is so competitive. It’s tough, and sometimes it’s tougher than the game itself but that’s how we get our competitiveness. Players are chasing each other and chasing selection.
"We’ve been able to raise our level of training far beyond what we’ve ever done before. I always thought we trained well previously but we’ve just taken it to a completely different level."
STATS
- England have won each of their last five Guinness Women's Six Nations matches against France, however, three of their five wins came by margins of just six points or fewer; this will be the third year in a row that these sides have met in the final round of the Championship with the Grand Slam on the line for both teams.
- France have lost just three of their last 20 Guinness Women's Six Nations matches (W16 D1), including all four of their games in this year's Championship by double-digit margins, however, all three of their defeats during that period have come against England.
- England have won each of their last 28 Guinness Women's Six Nations matches, the longest run by any team in the men's or women's editions of the Championship - each of the Red Roses' four wins this year have come by margins of 36+ points.
- England have won each of their last 13 Guinness Women's Six Nations away matches by an average margin of 46 points and have held their opponents scoreless in each of their last three away games in the Championship.
- England have recorded more carry metres (4251), made more line breaks (57) and beaten more defenders (163) than any other side in this year's Guinness Women's Six Nations - in fact, the Red Roses' tally of 1549 metres carried, 24 line breaks and 63 defenders beaten last time out against Ireland all represent the highest tallies by any side in a Championship game this decade.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
2023: England 38-33 France
2022: France 7-13 England
2022: France 12 - 24 England
2021: France 15 - 17 England
2021: England 10 - 6 France
2020: England 25 - 23 France
FIXTURES AND RESULTS
27 April: France v England - Stade Chaban-Delmas (16:45 BST)
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
Red Roses secure Six Nations Grand Slam with victory over France
John Mitchell's side scored six tries to retain the Guinness Women's Six Nations title for the sixth year in a row
The 21-42 victory in Bordeaux confirmed England Women's third successive Grand Slam title as they scored tries from Maud Muir, Meg Jones, Marlie Packer, Amy Cokayne and an Alex Matthews brace. They conceded just 41 points across their five games in the 2024 championship.
France responded with tries from Gabrielle Vernier and a Marine Menager double as Lina Queroi kicked all three of her conversions.
Possession was all England's in the opening exchanges and an early scrum penalty earned them field position in France's 22. Their patience was rewarded when Muir crashed over from close range in the fifth minute. Matthews followed with a second soon after, with Aitchison kicking both conversions to secure an early 14-0 lead.
Responding almost immediately, France moved their way into the England 22 in search of their first points of the afternoon, which came at the hands of centre Vernier
A moment of opportunism from Jones set the platform for the Red Roses' third try of the evening. The Leicester Tigers centre intercepted Nassira Konde's offload and coasted down the right flank, but celebrations were short-lived as Marine Menager negated the points advantage with a second try for the home team shortly afterwards.
Captain Packer scored the bonus point-securing try from the base of a driving maul on the half-hour mark before the returning Cokayne added a fifth in similar fashion in the closing minutes of the first half.
France tight-head Assia Khalfaoui was shown a yellow card for a high challenge on Mornwenna Talling in the opening five minutes of the second half, which was later upgraded to a red card following an off-field review.
Undeterred and driven forward by scrum half Bourdon Sansus, France pushed forward in attack, pressing into England's 22 and forcing the Red Roses onto the back foot. The defensive wall was finally broken when Menager found space down the right wing to score her second of the afternoon.
Matthews crossed for her second with less than ten minutes on the clock after a penalty kick afforded her side possession in French territory. Lucy Packer found Connie Powell, who popped the ball into space for the No.8 to dot down under the posts.
It would be the final scoring action of an action-packed encounter in Bordeaux as Aitchison booted the ball into touch at the final sounding of referee Maggie Cogger-Orr's whistle.
FIXTURES AND RESULTS
France 21-42 England
