England held off a spirited French fightback on Saturday to win the 2023 women's Six Nations rugby union tournament.
Both sides entered the final match of the competition at Twickenham in south-west London with four wins apiece.
And it appeared the coveted 'Grand Slam' of five straight victories was England's when the hosts went in at half-time leading 33-0
But in a spectacular second-half in front of a world record attendance of 58,498 fans, the visitors ate into the lead.
Émilie Boulard got France on the board shortly after the restart and Gabrielle Vernier scored France's second try in the 56th minute.
With Jessy Trémoulière adding the conversions, the deficit was cut to 19 points.
But Lark Davies touched down on the hour mark to make it 38-14.
And though Charlotte Escudero scored five minutes later, France were unable to add further tries until the final five minutes when Emeline Gros and Cyrielle Banet went over.
It finished 38-33.
Une fin de match totalement folle 🤯#TikTokW6N #SuperSaturday⚡️ #ENGFRA pic.twitter.com/eX3NIFrkHO
— TikTok Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 29, 2023
"Another cliffhanger of a game and what a final. You couldn't wish for more," said England head coach Simon Middleton who will step down from his post after eight years in charge.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗠 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 ❤️#RedRoses | #TikTokW6N pic.twitter.com/LvptursliX
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) April 29, 2023
"It's everything we want the game to be," he added. "We've got to springboard from here and keep building on it. It's been an honour and a privilege to do the job. I've been very, very lucky."
