When it comes to England v France there is no such thing as a friendly. The tense nature of the rivalry was on full display throughout, including a crunching collision between Ellie Kildunne and the France fly-half Lina Tuy, rips in tackles from the prop Hannah Botterman and a Kingsholm crowd in a feet-rumbling mood.
It was an atmosphere and physicality to reignite the history between the two foes and England’s head coach John Mitchell noted post-match that his team’s defensive work hurt France “mentally” and that the encounter was not “very friendly”. If the hostility alone was not enough to light a spark in this match, then the added backdrop of the first game of a season which will end with the Rugby World Cup, being held in England, certainly was.
England’s performance was not perfect, with the team working out kinks from their pre-season, but some players did stand out with honourable mentions to Kildunne, player-of-the-match Tatyana Heard and Maddie Feaunati on her first Test start. Back row Feaunati’s performance earned praise from captain Marlie Packer: “She was explosive, she was powerful. We have grown a bond over pre-season and with that I wanted to see her go well today. Heard was deserving of the player of the match but Maddie was definitely up there.”
Kildunne, who was the top scorer in the 2024 Women’s Six Nations, once again provided England’s joie de vivre in attack. The No 15, who competed in Team GB’s seventh-place finish in the Olympic Sevens this summer, sprinkled excitement whenever she received the ball and was soon starting a move that ended with a try. The full-back made a Break and passed to Jess Breach, France’s scramble defence dealt with the wing but a few phases later the skipper Packer struck gold.
France reacted well to conceding, holding the Red Roses from scoring for several minutes but England were next over the whitewash through Breach. Some cynical play at a ruck followed with the France hooker Agathe Sochat given a yellow card for kicking the ball away and Helena Rowland, who returned from injury, capitalised on being a player up with a try. The half-time score was 19-0 but the teams were just starting to rev.
England moved into fourth gear with two more tries but Sochat had her redemption arc with a stunning run, slicing through the English defence to put her team on the scoreboard.
Kingsholm’s crowd quietened when Romane Ménager went over but they were soon back in full voice as replacement scrum-half Lucy Packer cancelled out the try with one of her own. France are a never-say-die team though and their star No 9 Pauline Bourdon Sansus, who started from the bench, pounced to go over. In the end it was England who extended their winning run against France to 14th consecutive games.
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The last time England fell to defeat was in the 2022 World Cup final against New Zealand, who visit Twickenham next Saturday. It is arguably the biggest current rivalry in women’s rugby and the Black Ferns are in town to try to ruin England’s home winning record which stretches back to 2016.
“We want to play more consistently [at Twickenham]. Every time we go there we want to perform and inspire,” Mitchell added. “We do it for the girls, we do it for the now, we do it for the past and we do it for the future. There is a particular way to play New Zealand so we will get excited about that when we are ready. The girls will need a few ice packs, a couple of beers and pizza [first].”
