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A chance for trophy glory, a piece of rugby history, a bid to end 11-years of hurt. These are all things England have the opportunity to grasp next Saturday at a sold-out Twickenham against Canada but it will not be an easy match in any stretch of the imagination and based on these semi-final performances alone, the Maple Leafs should be favourites. The Red Roses were put under immense pressure by France, who posed England the most questions they have been asked since the last time they played one another in England last April.
Le Crunch is usually a tense and close battle when hosted in England, the last one coming in the Women’s Six Nations which ended with England clinging on to a 43-42 thrilling win. France were pegged by many before kick-off on Saturday as firm underdogs but they let their actions show what they thought of that with a thoroughly impressive performance, particularly in the first half, frustrating and dismantling the Red Roses.
Pre-match it was not marked out as one that was going to be close on the scoreboard because of the disruptions to France’s squad. They had two players banned and two key stars ruled out with injury in Lina Queyroi and Joanna Grisez. As England have said repeatedly, they can only play what is in front of them and what they can control is their own performance.
A complete 80 minutes has not been on display from England at this tournament and it is something their fans will have to wait to see if they can put it together in the final. Their defence in this semi-final was impressive at times, particularly through Meg Jones at the breakdown and Hannah Botterman at set piece, but their attack needed to be more clinical. Several chances went begging because of handling errors and miscommunication between players.
There isn’t a sound at a Red Roses game quite like when the full back Ellie Kildunne, who returned from injury, makes a break and at a sold-out Ashton Gate the cheers only encouraged her to make more metres. Her first effort was rumbled initially but on the second time of asking she ran half the pitch and dodged Kelly Arbey, who made a good run back to try and tackle her, to go under the posts. Not only was it Kildunne’s third try of the tournament but it was England’s 100th of the calendar year.
Beautiful chaos ensued with possession being exchanged as thrilling attacks weren’t coming off for either side. Four impressive defensive sets from England came next with patience throughout the team forcing France to knock on, two breakdown penalties from Jones and a penalty in a defensive maul. Those moments were a good stress test for England’s defence, who are not used to being put under pressure in every game which is what they will be under an immense amount of against Canada next week.
Eventually England’s defensive dam burst and Konde went over with France’s attack outnumbering England on the right. The Red Roses continued to absorb pressure and were let off the hook at one point with a Marine Ménager try ruled out because of a forward pass with the half-time score 7-5.
The second half started with drums coming from the crowd with England players setting the rhythm and it looked as though they had chimed them over the line with Abby Dow over but it was ruled out for a forward pass. They had to revert to their ever-trusted rolling maul to score and the sheer joy from the crowd showed just how worried fans had been by a resolute French performance.
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Momentum swung back and forth with French tries from Arbey and Kounde and English scores by Abbie Ward and Kildunne. But the decisive try came from Jones, who was outstanding for England all afternoon, to seal their spot in the final.
For a neutral this game was a thriller but if England want to get their hands on the World Cup next week they will have to up their game several levels.
