England battle to French win

In a game where abrasive defence caught the eye, neither side offered varied amounts in attack and the opening exchanges brought classic  early Autumn international test match fare - lots of exuberance but little polish.

When you return a whole raft of sevens players to a cold November evening of test match XV rugby, perhaps a litany of unforced errors are simply what you get, though former England coach Graham Smith was critical online of that defence, saying that “poor skill is just poor skill” and either way England will hope for better in the games ahead.

France too were rusty at best. Some impressive double hits pockmarked their defensive effort but they were wasteful in attack, and the lack of a world class kicker continues to be a major achilles heel.

To the game itself and it was all England in the opening 10 minutes, with the boot of Katy Mclean keeping French fullback Caroline Ladagnous busy. Numerous handling errors, coupled with a rock sold defence from the visitors, led by Safi N’Diaye, yielded little in return however.

But England made it count eventually and after 24 minutes a brilliant Mclean kick to the corner set up the perfect position for an England pack, which had struggled in the tight exchanges thus far. France made a mess of defending the line out and a neat catch and drive from England’s forwards, meant the impressive Amy Cockayne could do enough to get under it for the 5-0 leadEngland were starting to hit their straps, and a lovely outside break from Claire Allan almost resulted in another score, with Rachael Burford steaming through on her shoulder, but France did just enough to recover and clear. Marlie Packer was the next to break the line and suddenly the visitors’ defence began to look creaky.

England’s lineout was powering very well indeed and Mclean went to the corner again just before the break, but in a fitting finale to an error strewn first half, the ball was spilled and halftime was called.

Mindful perhaps of the short turnaround before their game against Ireland this Sunday, England made a raft of changes at the break, including replacing captain Sarah  Hunter, and France worked their way into getting a foothold in the game with Gaelle Mignot on to add some extra nous.

The visitors went back to basics and used their pack to pound the English fringes in the 22, with Yanna Rivoalen paying a key organising role, and eventually they bashed their way over the line, only to be held up.

France went for the jugular, winning a penalty and calling for a second scrum but England managed to hold them out- just.

England did well defensively, working their way out of their own 22 with some good tight play, and some nice kicking, again from Mclean, brought them good reward.

Cockayne thought she had scored again when she charged down a clearance from Camille Cabalou but was called back for an offside.

After an interminable period between the two 22s, it took an error to spark the game into life. A  French kick to the corner wasn't dealt with by England wing Fiona Poccok and an interception from Julie Duval took Christelle Le Duff over to level the game up, against the run  of play after a spell of England dominance.

With time almost up, a yellow card for Camille Grassineau for a dangerous tackle, gave England another go and a brilliantly worked driving maul was driven over the line for Packer this time to score and take a 10-5 lead with just three minutes to go.

Impressive for England were Alex Matthews and Marlie Packer - the former named deserved player of the game, with Natasha Hunt organising well and Mclean showing her organising skills, inside Allan and Danielle Waterman, who showed some nice touches.

For France ,Safi N’Dyiaye started well, especially defensively, but faded late on, whole Yanna Rivoalen went well at scrum-half. Mignot once again seemed to rally her troops, as she so often does.

Finally a word for Rocky Clark - the England prop came off the bench to equal Jason Leonard's record of 114 caps - a huge achievement for which much recognition is due.

England: Danielle Waterman, Kay Wilson, Claire Allan, Rachael Burford, Fiona Pocock, Katy Mclean, Natasha Hunt, Vickii Cornborough, Amy Cokayne, Laura Keates, Tamara Taylor, Emily Braund, Alex Matthews, Marlie Packer, Sarah Hunter (c)

Replacements:Vicky Fleetwood (for Cockayne 62), Rochelle Clark (for Cornborough 56), Sarah Bern, Harriet Millar-Mills (for Braund 40), Izzy Noel-Smith (for Hunter 40), La Toya Mason (for Hunt 70), Emily Scott (for Wilson 40) , Ceri Large (for Burford 56)

France:Caroline Ladagnous, Camille Grassineau, Rose Thomas, Lucille Godiveau, Elodie Guiglion, Christelle Le Duff, Yanna Rivoalen, Lise Arricastre, Manon Bigot,. Patricia Carricaburu, Celine Ferer, Manon Andre, Pauline Rayssaca, Laetitia Grand, Safi N’diaye (c)

Replacements:Gaëlle Mignot (for Bigot 40) , Annaëlle Deshayes (for Arricastre 40)  Lenaïg Corson, (for Carricaburu 58) Gaëlle Hermet (for Ferer 71), Romane Menager (for Grand 65), Camille Cabalou (for Ladagnous 60), Carla Neisen (for Thomas 65), Julie Duval (for Manon 58)