Ratier & Harvey react after WC semi win

Magali Harvey

It was so tight throughout - when did you realise, we have this, we’ve won it and what was that crowd like?

It could have gone either way. I am not going to lie I kept on checking the time and was thinking 'hurry up 80 minutes'. Time went by so so slowly by the end so we were so happy when it ended.

Even right at the end it was hard to believe. It was an amazing feeling. It was a hard crowd to block out. I have played in a lot of stadiums but I have never played anywhere where the whole stadium was cheering for the other team. Sometimes we were out there calling plays and we had no idea what our team mates just a few metres away were saying. It created a great atmosphere but it was also slightly overwhelming at times.

I couldn't really hear anyone but French fans mainly, though at the end we could hear the Canadian supporters.  You just try to zone out and you try and put the crowd to one side when you are playing.

Tell us about that try.

My main thought process was just to run fast!  I have an amazing trainer who has worked with me on my speed and he helped me get a lot faster so I do trust and back my speed. When I saw their fullback I could see that her hips were turned so it was easy to just cut back in and keep on running.

When I started the programme, over 40 metres I could run in 5’88 and now I can do it in 5’38 so it is a big improvement for me.

Can the experience of the Sevens World Cup Final for so many of you be a help going into this?

It helps with the jitters. You know what to expect when there is a huge crowd and when all eyes are on you. We are a team and we stick together and dismiss everything else going on around us

Francois Ratier

The team seems to be encouraged to take risks?

We want to play what we have in front of us. But in our DNA we want to take risks. Rugby is a risky game but it is a boring game if you don’t take them. We have the opportunity to show the world that women’s rugby can be entertaining so that is what we do. It is about performance but it is also a mission of ours.

England have a huge pack - did you see their game?

I did see it yes. They played exactly as they played us last November in Twickenham when they beat us. It is up to us to stop them going forward. We will not change our style of rugby just because it is a final. We came here as the underdogs and we were not in the plans for people to get to the final. We will keep going the way we are going till the end no matter what. Anything is possible.  We will enjoy the moment.