Spain defeated by the French steamroller

Report and photo from FER

From the first minute the French imposed their game at the Pedro Escartín Stadium in Guadalajara, dominating both in the three quarters as in the front and with a pace of play that the Spanish did not know how to stop.

A total 15 essays by Samuel Cheroux and Olivier Lievremont’s young “next-generation” French team in their autumn international was probably better than they could have dreamt.

As soon as the match started France was ahead on the scoreboard thanks to their dominance of the lineout and the power of their forwards, and throughout the first half the Spanish team was not able to stop the ball carrier running riot, showing their better rugby as broke with great ease the defensive line and then were able retain possession putting the “Lioness” defence under continual pressure. We saw the problems they had breaking out of defence against Scotland last week. Then they often got away with errors, today they got away with nothing.

There was only one bright moment of the Lionesses in these first 40, in which they managed to touch the French try line, but because of a handling error they were left without the prize of the points.

The second half began with the score already at 0-61 against the Leonas, who were putting all their energies in improving the defensive line, trying to maintain possession of the ball and spend some time in attack. But the French gave them nothing, and did not relax for a moment, and crossed the line for another six tries.

The final result, 0-97, gives a good account of the French domination of the game from beginning to end and the great state of shape of French team - despite being in a period of “generational renewal” similar to that faced by Spain with their 2021 Project – but Spain clearly have much more of a mountain to climb.

Estadio Pedro Escartín, Guadalajara (11/11/2017 – KO 16:00)

Scoring: 05 Mins: Try  Celine Ferer [4] (0-5); 05 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-7); 06 Mins: Try  Celine Ferer [4] (0-12); 07 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-14); 10 Mins: Try  Mäelle Filipon [12] (0-19); 11 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-21); 12 Mins: Try  Gaëlle Hermet [6] (0-26); 13 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-28); 15 Mins: Try  Celine Ferer [4] (0-33); 16 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-35); 21 Mins: Try  Lea Murie [11] (0-40); 22 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-42); 31 Mins: Try  Caroline Boujard [14] (0-47); 32 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-49); 35 Mins: Try  Lea Murie [11] (0-54); 40 Mins: Try  Julie Duval [3] (0-59); 41 Mins: Conversion Emma Coudert [10] (0-61); 42 Mins: Try  Gaëlle Hermet [6] (0-66); 51 Mins: Try  Safi N´Diaye [5] (0-71); 52 Mins: Conversion Pauline Bourdon [9] (0-73); 56 Mins: Try  Lea Murie [11] (0-78); 68 Mins: Try  Lan Jason [13] (0-83); 69 Mins: Conversion Pauline Bourdon [9] (0-85); 71 Mins: Try  Mäelle Filipon [12] (0-90); 71 Mins: Conversion Pauline Bourdon [9] (0-92); 73 Mins: Try  Elise Pignot [15] (0-97)

Spain: 1  Saioa Jaurena; 2  Isabel Rico; 3  Laura Delgado; 4  Ana Puig; 5  Lourdes Alameda; 6  Maria Calvo; 7  Paula Medín; 8  María Losada; 9  Anne Fernández; 10  Ingrid Algar; 11  Lucia Diaz; 12  Elisabeth Martinez; 13  Sabina Hurtado; 14  María Garcia; 15  María Ahís; 16  Claudia Alonso; 17  Alexandra Castillon; 18  Jeanina Alejandra Vinueza; 19  Judith Velez; 20  Amanda Prado; 21  Carmen Rodera; 22  Carmen Olias; 23  Marta Carmona

France: 1  Dhia Traore; 2  Agathe Sochat; 3  Julie Duval; 4  Celine Ferer; 5  Safi N´Diaye; 6  Gaëlle Hermet; 7  Romane Menager; 8  Emeline Gros; 9  Pauline Bourdon; 10  Emma Coudert; 11  Lea Murie; 12  Mäelle Filipon; 13  Lan Jason; 14  Caroline Boujard; 15  Elise Pignot; 16  Milena Soloch; 17  Lise Arricastre; 18  Clara Joeux; 19  Audrey Forlani; 20  Brandy Cazorla; 21  Charlotte Torres; 22  Gabrielle Vernier; 23  Cyrielle Banet