Czech Republic v France Militarie

Czechia 17 - France Militaire 27 (half time 0 : 12)

The match was curtain raiser to the men’s match, Czechia v Supa Barbarians (South Africa), and it was played on the main Czech rugby stadium, Markéta. The tickets were valid for both matches so we don’t have the exact number of visitors for the women’s game, but there were approximately 200 of viewers both Czech and French, cheering very loudly.

The day was sunny and warm, which is very unusual in Czechia in this part of year.

The match had two different halves. In the first one the Czechs, with a lot of uncapped players in the team, were visibly nervous and made lot of errors. The French team had upper hand and scored two tries.

In the second half the Czechs levelled the game and started to combine. Both teams scored three tries in this part of the game and the last one from the Czechs in the dying time was probably the best moment of the match. After the long pass from fly-half the backs combined few very short and fast passes and outnumbered the French defence.

The final pass went to the youngest player on the field, 17 years old Anežka Sládková, who was moved from centre to the fullback in the last quarter of the game. She had free space in front of her and run around the French players under the posts.

Anežka Sládková was named the best Czech player of the game, the best French player was named fly-half Margaux Auvinet.

The Czech captain Kateřina Nováková: “It was our first game after a year. In the first half we were not communicating enough. In the second half the coaches made few changes, we got the right tempo and our self-confidence grew-up a lot“.

The French captain Linda Kacem: ”The Czechs surprised us with very physical game, especially in the defence. It was really tight game.”

The game was really helpful for the women’s game in Czechia. The short news about the match and interview with captain appeared on the Czech nationwide TV for the first time.

Scores: 5th minute 0 : 5, try by Jodie Romero 26th minute 0 : 10, try by Coralyne Vittet 27th minute 0 : 12, conversion by Jodie Romero Halftime 0 : 12 44th minute 0 : 17, try by Adeline Carrasquet 58th minute 0 : 22, try by Heloise Duchesne 67th minute 5 : 22, try by Jenny Vik 68th minute 7 : 22, conversion by Anežka Sládková 75th minute 12 : 22, try by Sára Lea Exnerová 79th minute 12 : 27, try by Milena Soloch 80th minute 17 : 27, try by Anežka Sládková

Czechia:1 Aneta Šmejdová, RC Sparta Praha 2 Dominika Havelková, RC Přelouč 3 Karolina Filsáková, RK Petrovice 4 Petra Křiklánová, RC Tatra Smíchov * 5 Kristýna Plevová, RC Tatra Smíchov * 6 Věra Samková, RC Sparta Praha 7 Kateřina Čaky Nováková, RK Petrovice (captain) *8 Sára Lea Mamba Exnerová, RC Sparta Praha 9 Lucie Oupicová, RC Mountfield Říčany * 10 Alexandra Zítková, RC Dragon Brno 11 Daniela Ferugová, TJ Sokol Mariánské Hory * 12 Kateřina Daníčková, RC Tatra Smíchov 13 Anežka Sládková, RK Petrovice * 14 Karolína Hudečková, RC JIMI Vyškov * 15 Kateřina Koubová, RC Tatra Smíchov *16 Veronika Doleželová, RC Dragon Brno * 17 Jenny Vik, Harlequin FC 18 Renata Frýdlová, RC Mountfield Říčany 19 Jana Roubalová, RC Šelmy Hradec Králové * 20 Šárka Žižková, RC Tatra Smíchov 21 Klára Hladilová, RC Sparta Praha 22 Karolína Valentová, RK Petrovice * 23 Kateřina Porky Pokorná, RC Tatra Smíchov(*uncapped players)

Head Coach: Richard Krützner; Coaches: Zdeněk Albrecht, Vlasta Bažant, Petr Pořízek; Physio: Bára Kopecká; Manager: Martin Charvát

France Militaire:1 Heloise Duchesne 2 Milena Soloch 3 Lise M’Foudi 4 Linda Kacem (captain) 5 Justine Gasparoux 6 Coralyne Vittet 7 Christine Patin 8 Yolande Abessolo 9 Jodie Romero 10 Margaux Auvinet 11 Ann-Laure Merizzi 12 Eva Dourthe 13 Julie Del Corral 14 Christelle Dunot 15 Adeline Carrasquet16 Pauline Guery 17 Prescilia Artus 18 Ludivine Wieder 19 Pauline Wesely 20 Stella Mazzei 21 Severine Castelline 22 Sarah Paul 23 Michelle Mardenbrough Head Coach Stephane Tisne Coaches Gerard Augustin, Benjamin Chalutaud Physio Florian Lankar