France win Women’s Six Nations decider

Video highights

England Women travelled to Vannes with the dream of a Grand Slam, and led at halftime, but in the end it ended in heartbreak on Friday night when they lost 17-12 to France in a winner-takes-all decider. The French walked away from the Stade de la Rabine, Vannes, as Six Nations champions after holding off England in a hard fought victory. England will finish second in the tournament, although the remaining nations have yet to play their final games.

France began brightly, but their only reward was a penalty attempt which Camille Cabalou pulled wide. Having survived the opening ten minutes unscathed, England began their best period of the game which resulted in a try from Lydia Thompson, slipping round the blindside of a 5m scrum before breaking four tackles and crashing over in the corner, after which Amber Reed sent over a brilliant touchline conversion.

France responded quickly however with Gaelle Mignot getting the touch as the pack drove over from close range. The conversion was missed, so England lead 7-5 at halftime.

The hosts, with the advantage of the slight sea breeze at their backs in the second half, began brightly with some quick passing moves down the narrow side, led by the example of young scrumhalf Pauline Bourdon who was having a superb first game in the Six Nations. A penalty opportunity was missed, but soon a driving maul which took Audrey Forlani over the line and Camile Cabalou this time nailed the conversion.

England pulled level almost immediately after Tamara Taylor powered over - but Reed’s conversion hit the post to leave the score tied – a result which would still be enough to give England the title.

Then, with 10 minutes – shortly after a French maul was ruled to have been held up - another French lineout lead to a maul which drove over the English line, giving Mignot her second try and a 17-12 lead. England desperately fought back, dominating possession for the final few minutes, but French defence held firm.

After the game England Coach Scott Bemand said: “We knew this would be a tough game tonight but it is hard to swallow. The girls have done everything that was asked of them – they have shown character and commitment. We tried to play our brand against a really tough French team, in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. We have to regroup, go back and this team is going to continue to evolve and get better. We have a summer tour, we’re going to dust ourselves off and get back on the rails for that. Tonight was a genuine test match.”

France: 15 Laura Delas (Tarbes); 14 Camille Cabalou (Bayonne); 13 Lucille Godiveau (Bobigny);12 Elodie Poublan (Montpellier); 11 Julie Billes (Montpellier); 10 Camille Imart (Stade Toulousain); 9 Pauline Bourdon (Bayonne); 8 Safi N’diaye (Montpellier); 7 Laetitia Grand (Lons); 6 Pauline Rayssac (Montpellier); 5 Céline Ferer (Bayonne); 4 Audrey Forlani (Blagnac -Saint Orens);3 Julie Duval (Ovalie Caennaise); 2 Gaëlle Mignot (Montpellier); 1 Lise Arricastre (Lons);

Replacements: 16 Manon Bigot (Blagnac -Saint Orens); 17 Dhia Traore (Stade Toulousain); 18 Patricia Carricaburu (Lons); 19 Romane Menager (Lille-Métropole RC Villeneuvois);  20 Julie Annery (Bobigny); 21 Camille Boudaud (Stade Rennais Rugby); 22 Coralie Bertrand (Stade Toulousain); 24 Caroline Boujard (Montpellier);

England:  15. Katie Mason (Bristol, 9 caps); 14. Lydia Thompson (Worcester, 21 caps); 13. Lauren Cattell (Saracens, 17 caps); 12. Ceri Large (Worcester, 46 caps); 11. Lotte Clapp (Saracens, 6 caps); 10. Amber Reed (Bristol, 28 caps); 9. La Toya Mason (Darlington Mowden Park, 53 caps); 1. Rochelle Clark (Worcester, 109 caps); 2. Emma Croker (Richmond, 62 caps); 3. Vickii Cornborough (Richmond, 13 caps); 4. Emily Braund (Lichfield, 22 caps); 5. Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park, 90 caps) ; 6. Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield, 30 caps); 7. Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol, 16 caps); 8. Sarah Hunter (Bristol, 77 caps)