France halfback Laure Sansus had to leave the field injured after this tackle against England at Northland Events Centre.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
France halfback Laure Sansus had to leave the field injured after this tackle against England at Northland Events Centre.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
The Black Ferns roll into town this week for their clash against Scotland in Whangārei, bringing with them hordes of passionate rugby fans and looking set to put in a performance well worth the ticket price.
Another weekend of top-class rugby is in store at the Northland Events Centre, where an epic clash between world number one England and plucky France sent the crowd into a frenzy in the Women's Rugby World Cup on Saturday evening.
It was billed as 'The Clash of the Titans', and it was. England continued its 11-game winning streak against France and came out on top 13-7, in a gripping game of open rugby that had everything— physicality, missed opportunities, injuries and drama.
England skipper Sarah Hunter felt there were more English supporters at the ground on Saturday than at Eden Park in Auckland, where they played Fiji in the opening round.
The tricolours suffered an early blow when halfback Laure Sansus suffered what looked like a leg injury, and minutes later, No 8 Romane Menager also departed after she was spotted lying on her side in a ruck.
England fullback Ellie Kildunne tries to charge down a kick from France's Chloé Jacquet during their feature match in Whangārei.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
The pace and physicality of the game evidently took its toll on the players, given the number of times Irish referee Joy Neville had to stop play.
There were periods when England patiently, expertly, and systematically ran the French ragged, and yet there were also periods where France did the same to them - that made for an enthralling contest.
"We knew was going to be an 80-minute match; it's not going to be won in the first 20 minutes, first 40 minutes. It's gonna go right to the end - and boy, did it go to the end! Really proud of the girls that we managed to do that," Hunter said post-match.
She said the girls rued the opportunities they missed - they had got themselves in the right areas, which had presented a number of opportunities to them, but they ultimately couldn't nail them.
"There's a lot of sore bodies out there. You could see from the first five minutes, that set the tone for the game... some of the shots, the ball carries. We always know France will play a physical game - it's going to be attritional, and they certainly didn't disappoint there."
Centre Emily Scarratt scored England's first try in the 23rd minute from a quick tap and go after France was penalised in their 22m. Two more penalties either side of halftime had England in a commanding 13-0 lead, but the French kept coming at them.
Wing Joanna Grisez pounced on a cross kick by and bolted towards the tryline, only to be stopped just short. She managed to offload to Pauline Bourdon for the try.
"We had our hearts set on playing 80 good minutes, unlike other games that have played out. It feels good because we regained our DNA, our ferocity on the field, and despite the game not being in our favor, we found ourselves, and that's what mattered most tonight," France's captain Cēline Ferer offered.
On the successive injuries to Sansus and Ménager, the captain said: "It's unfortunately the risks of rugby. We focused on ourselves, and we said to ourselves that we had to fight for them, we had to do the job. We had them with us in our hearts, and that gave us the strength."
"We tried to bounce back from that. We tried to respond with rugby. It didn't matter what the outcome was, because it wasn't a game that knocked us out.
"I think, given the score, they were pretty hot. It's still a loss, for sure, but I think tonight we can go back to the locker room with our heads up."
The other two games preceding the England v France match also lived up to expectations. Australia managed to hold on to a slender 14-12 lead despite having two players sent off to win against Scotland. It was Scotland's eighth loss in a row.
Scotland had the measure of Australia in the first spell and were playing in favour of the wind. The Scottish lineout and driving maul were lethal weapons from which they scored a couple of tries, much to the delight of their passionate fans.
Scottish fans were not hard to miss at Northland Events Centre, where their team lost to Australia.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
The Australians were guilty of conceding too many penalties in their own half and forcing 50-50 passes that played into the Scottish hands.
Hooker Adiana Talakai and replacement Ashley Marsters were given their marching orders for dangerous tackles.
"It's a tough score to take. We put in a big first half and we really capitalised on putting pressure in there. From an attacking point of view, we did a lot better than last week, but in the second half, we just couldn't get a hold of the ball or get the territory that we needed to play," Scotland skipper Rachel Malcolm lamented.
"I think the biggest thing to take home from these last two weeks is, we are ready to fight on this world stage. It has taken us 12 years to get back here, and we have shown that we are ready to be here, and we are ready to compete, and we are so, so close, and we will come back next week and will try and push on again."
Scotland No 8 Jade Konkel-Roberts peels off from the back of the scrum against Australia.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
Her side has a tough task set for this Saturday when it takes on the Black Ferns.
Australia coach Jay Tregonning said more work was needed on the technical and tactical point of view, but it was that 'do-whatever-it-takes' attitude that got his side over the line.
The try of the triple-header on Saturday went to Japan left wing Komachi Imakugi. She fielded a kick just inside her half, spotted a gaping hole in the United States midfield and raced 55m to score. Unfortunately, she got sin-binned minutes later for a deliberate knock-on. The US side won the match 30-17.
"I'm really gutted for the girls because they did everything that we asked of them, minus the penalty count. It's a really horrible way to come unstitched, because it is on us, and so we have the knowledge that we could have handled the game better than we did," Japan mentor Lesley McKenzie said.
She said missed opportunities, lack of discipline and lapses in judgment were the key issues.
Australia takes on Wales in the first match of the triple-header in Whangārei this Saturday.The Black Ferns will play Scotland, and the last game is between France and Fiji.
Northland rugby fans will get to see local girls Portia Woodman and Krystal Murray in action if they are picked in the match 23.
