Matthews leads England to third grand slam in row with victory in France

Alex Matthews scores the Red Roses’ second try of the match to propel them towards another title. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

England have been bathed in Women’s Six Nations glory since 2019 and the winning sunlight warmed their skin once again as the captain Marlie Packer lifted the trophy aloft for the Red Roses’ third successive grand slam and sixth consecutive title. England were convincing and lethal in their win over France but they did show weaknesses in defence in the second half, giving the England head coach John Mitchell the arm wrestle he had wanted ahead of kick-off.

In the buildup to the game Mitchell was keen to have learnings from Le Crunch, especially with a home Rugby World Cup on the horizon.

They were most definitely dealt them by a ferocious France team, who went down to 14 in the 43rd minute after Assia Khalfaoui was handed a red card, but England managed to weather the storm.

Many had feared the game would be a washout with heavy rain forecasted. Temperamental weather plagued the Bordeaux skies throughout the day but for a few hours before kick-off the heavens opened. It did not dampen the atmosphere though with some supporters in their seats two hours before kick-off and a live band sound tracked the buildup. As England emerged to warm-up the boos mimicked the weather and rained down, just a hint of the hostility to come from the record crowd.

Fireworks and shouts of Allez les Bleus signalled kick-off and France had the first attacking scrum but England won a penalty. They kicked to the corner and employed their famous maul but the hosts defended well, forcing the Red Roses to run it through the hands and after a few phases Maud Muir was over.

The Red Roses soon opted for the maul again but France had their number. The French defence were precise in stopping the maul but when the ball was whipped wide England were able to find acres of space and the try line, this time Alex Matthews the scorer.

France were not going to be steamrolled though and they had the next momentum swing. Biding their time they inched closer and the centre Gabrielle Vernier sniped to hit back on the scoreboard. The French supporters were on a simmer before the try but the score saw the cauldron boil over with life breathed back into France’s grand slam hopes.

An edition of La Marseillaise reverberated around the ground but was soon silenced as the England centre Megan Jones intercepted a pass to score the team’s third. But the Red Roses also fell asleep in defence, Pauline Bourdon Sansus carved them open and fed Marine Ménager who beat a defender to score.

The back and forth nature of the game continued with Packer next over, after a TMO check, bagging the bonus point along with it. Some skill from Bourdon Sansus ensued next and she thought she had scored after pouncing on a charge down kick from Holly Aitchison’s boot but the officials ruled it out for offside.

To finish the first-half action, the hooker Amy Cokayne, who returned to the team after her ban, scored to send England into the break with a 35-14 lead and one hand on the trophy.

France’s second half started in the worst way possible with the prop Khalfaoui sent to the sin-bin for shoulder to head contact, the incident was referred to bunker review. It was upgraded to a red card, the announcement met with boos and whistles in the Stade Chaban-Delmas, making France’s title ambitions that much harder.

Under the pump being a player down the French crowd became the team’s 15th player, urging on every line break and somehow becoming even louder than they had been before. The French landed blow after blow to the English defensive line and the Red Roses coughed up numerous penalties which eventually saw Ménager in for her second. They couldn’t stage a comeback, could they? They could not make up the scoreboard dent and it widened again with Matthews’ second of the afternoon nailing England’s victory.

The win is the Red Roses’ 29th victory in a row in the tournament and their ever-improving side are showing no signs of relinquishing the record winning run or the trophy any time soon.