Red Roses v France Women: preview, teams and stats
As the Red Roses face France in the 2021 Women's Six Nations final here is everything you need to know.
England have made six changes for the fixture including Emily Scarratt being named captain with Sarah Hunter becoming a finisher.
- Red Roses announce side to face France
- Watch O2 Inside Line: Red Roses | PPP training
- Listen to Kildunne and Millar-Mills on England Rugby Podcast: O2 Inside Line
There are returns to the XV for Lark Davies, Abbie Ward, Marlie Packer, Poppy Cleall and Sarah McKenna, while Zoe Harrison makes her first start of the tournament at inside centre. The Red Roses have won back-to-back Women's Six Nations Grand Slams and are looking for a third title in a row.
France have just one change from their side that beat Ireland 56-15 last weekend to top Pool B, as Romane Ménager comes in at No 8.
Gaëlle Hermet captains the side from openside flanker, while wing Caroline Boujard is the Six Nations top try scorer so far. Les Bleues have lost their last seven meetings with the Red Roses and go in search of a first win in England since 2015.
- When? Saturday, 24 April
- Kick-off? 1400 BST
- Where? Twickenham Stoop, London
- Coverage? BBC Two, Match Centre on EnglandRugby.com, follow on England Rugby Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
VIEWS FROM THE CAMP
England head coach Simon Middleton: “The diversity of her [Poppy Cleall] game is fantastic – she can carry, fend, is a great distributor and her understanding of the game is pretty phenomenal. I think that goes for both Cleall sisters as they know the game inside out.
“Zoe [Harrison] has a world class kicking game, so depending on how we want to play and how we want to set the team up in playing field position or possession she gives us really good options.
“We’ve talked about how we want to start the game as we know France will start the game big. I’m expecting a few fireworks in the first five minutes.
“The key will be go forward. If you’re playing off slow ball then you’re not going to be able to play a running game against France, as they’ll be out of the blocks and into you."
RED ROSES PREPARE FOR WOMEN'S SIX NATIONS FINAL
England captain Emily Scarratt: “They’re always incredibly tough, incredibly physical, I don’t think there is going to be any surprises in terms of how hard the game is going to be.
“We’re under no illusions of the challenge at the weekend but it’s a really exciting one for us.
“It’s awesome [being on BBC Two], as we want to showcase what we do and our sport to as many people as possible and we’re not able to do that in terms of fans at the stadium. To have it on terrestrial TV and it being well publicised is great for us.
“You don’t get many opportunities to be in finals and to practice that week and the differences it brings. When you’re out there on the pitch there are no second chances, it’s knockout rugby and there’s a championship on the line, and it doesn’t change the mindset but it’s good practice.”
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
- 21 November 2020: England 25-23 France - Twickenham Stadium, London (Autumn International)
- 14 November 2020: France 10-33 England - Stade des Alpes, Grenoble (Autumn International)
- 2 February 2020: France 13-19 England - Stade du Hameau, Pau (Six Nations)
- 16 November 2019: England 17-15 France - Sandy Park, Exeter (Autumn International)
- 9 November 2019: France 10-20 England - Stade Marcel Michelin, Clermont Ferrand (Autumn International)
- 10 July 2019: England 20-18 France - Chula Vista Elite Training Centre, San Diego (Super Series)
- 10 February 2019: England 41-26 France - Castle Park, Doncaster (Six Nations)
- 10 March 2018: France 18-17 England - Stade des Alpes, Grenoble (Six Nations)
- 22 August 2017: England 20-3 France - Kingspan, Belfast (Rugby World Cup)
- 4 February 2017: England 26-13 France - Twickenham Stadium, London (Six Nations)
KEY STATS
- The Red Roses are on a 13-match winning run in the Six Nations
- Simon Middleton's side have won 23 of their last 24 Tests, with the only defeat coming to New Zealand in the 2019 Women's Super Series
- The Red Roses are on a seven-match winning streak against France and have won 11 of the last 12 meetings
- France are looking for their first win in England since 2015
- England Women have had more Test matches against France than any team in their history, winning 35 of their meetings and losing 14
- Caroline Boujard is the top try scorer in the competition so far crossing five times
- Twins Poppy and Bryony Cleall lead the Six Nations offloads charts with four each, with France's Gabrielle Vernier also hitting that mark
- Zoe Aldcroft is England's top tackler so far in 2021 with 27 in her two matches
TEAMS
England
15. Sarah McKenna (Saracens Women, 34 caps)
14. Jess Breach (Harlequins Women, 17 caps)
13. Emily Scarratt (C; Loughborough Lightning, 94 caps)
12. Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women, 28 caps)
11. Abby Dow (Wasps FC Ladies, 16 caps)
10. Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 5 caps)
9. Leanne Riley (Harlequins Women, 41 caps)
1. Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins Women, 58 caps)
2. Lark Davies (Loughborough Lightning, 30 caps)
3. Shaunagh Brown (Harlequins Women, 22 caps)
4. Abbie Ward (Harlequins Women, 46 caps)
5. Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning, 17 caps)
6. Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury Women, 22 caps)
7. Marlie Packer (Saracens Women, 75 caps)
8. Poppy Cleall (Saracens Women, 45 caps)
Finishers
16. Amy Cokayne (Harlequins Women, 55 caps)
17. Detysha Harper (Loughborough Lightning, 4 caps)
18. Bryony Cleall (Saracens Women, 3 caps)
19. Harriet Millar-Mills (Wasps FC Ladies, 60 caps)
20. Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lightning, 124 caps)
21. Claudia MacDonald (Wasps FC Ladies, 14 caps)
22. Lagi Tuima (Harlequins Women, 7 caps)
23. Ellie Kildunne (Wasps FC Ladies, 13 caps)
France
15. Emilie Boulard
14. Caroline Boujard
13. Carla Neisen
12. Jade Ulutule
11. Cyrielle Banet
10. Caroline Drouin
9. Laure Sansus
1. Annaëlle Deshaye
2. Agathe Sochat
3. Rose Bernadou
4. Madoussou Fall
5. Safi N’Diaye
6. Marjorie Mayans
7. Gaëlle Hermet (c)
8. Romane Ménager
Replacements
16. Laure Touyé
17. Maïlys Traoré
18. Clara Joyeux
19. Lenaïg Corson
20. Coumba Diallo
21. Pauline Bourdon
22. Morgane Peyronnet
23. Jessy Trémoulière
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
Red Roses defeat France to clinch Six Nations title
The Red Roses clinched their third consecutive Women’s Six Nations title after beating France Women 10-6 at The Stoop.
Simon Middleton’s charges overcame Scotland and Italy earlier in the competition before registering a solitary try and penalty against Les Bleues at the home of Harlequins, their eighth successive win over France, and fourteenth without loss in the tournament.
The visitors started strongly, disrupting England’s set piece early on and dictating the physicality with dominant defence. Second row Safi N’Diaye and scrum half Laure Sansus proved the brightest sparks in the opening quarter, complimenting each other well in broken play.
England struggled to impose their usual dominance upfront, and two uncharacteristic missed penalties from Emily Scarratt was followed by her withdrawal from the field for a HIA on the 20-minute mark.
During her absence, France explored width and showcased sharp offloading to surge deep into England’s territory, though from a resulting penalty fly half Caroline Drouin was also unsuccessful with a three-pointer.
Scarratt returned to the field seven minutes from the break and converted the game’s opening try – a close range Poppy Cleall effort on the stroke of half time – to hand the hosts a 7-0 lead.
MATCH ACTION: RED ROSES V FRANCE WOMEN
Drouin bagged France’s first points of the Test at the resumption, reducing the deficit to four.
With set piece problems continuing Amy Cokayne was introduced to the fray, as was Sarah Hunter - to earn her 125th cap - and although England’s scrum steadied, the inaccuracies in open play continued.
Despite their problems in attack, the Red Roses held firm in defence and repelled each wave of French runner, with Marlie Packer, Zoe Aldcroft and Cath O’Donnell leading the charge.
With eight minutes remaining Drouin converted her second penalty to make it a one-point game, but undeterred, the Red Roses held onto possession and forced a penalty of their own at the other end. Scarratt sent it over to make it 10-6 securing the victory.
REACTION
It means so much, we’ve played so hard since January and I think all that has paid off today, we worked hard for the full 80 minutes which is what we spoke about. We could have been more physical in the first half, but in the end we did it when it mattered. It is always a battle when we play France, credit to them today, they played well."
Player of the Match, Zoe Aldcroft
Ultimately the aim was to win the Six Nations and we’ve managed to do that, sometimes it doesn’t need to be big flamboyant score lines, it wasn’t our best performance but our defence was unreal at times against a side that scores for fun. Really proud of the effort."
Emily Scarratt
TEAMS
ENGLAND
15. Sarah McKenna, 14. Jess Breach, 13. Emily Scarratt (c), 12. Zoe Harrison, 11. Abby Dow, 10. Helena Rowland, 9. Leanne Riley, 1. Vickii Cornborough, 2. Lark Davies, 3. Shaunagh Brown, 4. Abbie Ward, 5. Cath O’Donnell, 6. Zoe Aldcroft, 7. Marlie Packer, 8. Poppy Cleall.
FINISHERS
16. Amy Cokayne, 17. Detysha Harper, 18. Bryony Cleall, 19. Harriet Millar-Mills, 20. Sarah Hunter, 21. Claudia MacDonald, 22. Lagi Tuima, 23. Ellie Kildunne.
FRANCE
15. Emilie Boulard, 14. Caroline Boujard, 13. Carla Neisen, 12. Jade Ulutule, 11. Cyrielle Banet, 10. Caroline Drouin, 9. Laure Sansus, 1. Annaëlle Deshaye, 2. Agathe Sochat, 3. Rose Bernadou, 4. Madoussou Fall, 5. Safi N’Diaye, 6. Marjorie Mayans, 7. Gaëlle Hermet (c), 8. Romane Ménager.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Laure Touyé, 17. Maïlys Traoré, 18. Clara Joyeux, 19. Lenaïg Corson, 20. Coumba Diallo, 21. Pauline Bourdon, 22. Morgane Peyronnet, 23. Jessy Trémoulière.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
Pool B: Red Roses 52 - 10 Scotland
Pool B: Italy 3 - 67 Red Roses
Final: Red Roses 10 - 6 France
