Tournament of the Six Nations Women: The French team is missing the feat and the title of nothing in England
Show, messy tests and a huge disappointment for the XV of France female. The Bleues and England offered a rugby festival on Saturday April 26, at the Twickenham stadium, in the suburbs of London, during the “final” of the Six Nations Tournament. But for the fifteenth time in a row, it was the Red Roses who came out of the duel (43-42) to win a trophy, on which they have been strangling since 2019.
Disturbing although invading after their first four games in the competition, the Habs did not seem able to look in the eyes their rivals of the day. Especially since the English had the support of 40,000 fans in the stands. The start of the match only confirmed this feeling. A la 23e Minute, the scrum half Claudia Macdonald was already going to mark the fifth essay of her troops, to bring the scoring to 31 to 7. The case seemed heard, the low heads in the French camp.
Have the Blue then redesigned to the 2023 tournament? Dominated in the big widths, already in Twickenham, already in the “final”, the players of the duo of selectors Gaëlle Mignot-David Ortiz were led 33 to 0 at the break, before revolting to finally bow on a low margin (38-33). Two years later, they did not even wait for the return to the locker room to attack. In the wake of Pauline Bourdon-Sansus (29e) and marine household (38e), they already had-a little-picked up the score at the intermission (31-21).
If the immediate follow -up of the match smiled at the English – who finally scored seven trials, against six for the Habs -, Manae Feleu and his teammates have never stopped playing and believing in a reversal of the situation. And to stupor of the stadium, he almost intervened in the last moments. A final test by the Ailière Joanna Grisez, untenable in her corridor on Saturday, allowed France to return to a small point before the siren sounds.
Go to the World Cup
It was then up to the Blue to go up the whole field, to try to inflict its first defeat in England since 2022 and the World Cup final, lost against New Zealand. Las, a last one with the opener Lina Queyroi put an end to the dreams of her team, while allowing the stands to exult.
“Frankly it’s hard to put words on the emotions that we have nowsaid the Captain of Bleues Manae Feleu to France 2, at the final whistle. I am super proud of the players. One point is nothing, even if at the same time it’s huge. But we have time to fill the gap [l’écart]. »
Same state of mind on the side of Joanna Grisez. “” I think we applied what we said. We had to play released when we stopped asking questions we dominated them. A group was built as and when the matches, we have to be proud of what we have shown, and that we manage to build on it. We will continue to work, if it is not today [qu’on gagne] It will be this summer. »»
This summer, again, in England, where the World Cup is held from August 22 to September 27. In front of their audience, the Red Roses will be keen to take their revenge on the New Zealand Black Fearns and to win a title that has escaped them since 2014. But on Saturday, the Bleues have proven that they had the level to play the spoilsports.
