England Women beat France at Twickenham
By RFU Press
November 9 2013
England Women kicked off their autumn campaign in perfect fashion with a 40-20 win against France at Twickenham Stadium.
Tries from skipper Katy Mclean, Maggie Alphonsi, Claire Allan, Ruth Laybourn and two from Kay Wilson set Gary Street’s side on the way to victory while Mclean added eight points with the boot and Amber Reed contributed two. The six-try victory will have gone a long way to eradicate memories of France’s 30-20 win against England at Twickenham during the 2013 Six Nations campaign. England started brightly and almost took a second minute lead, but wing Laybourn’s foot was adjudged to be in touch before she dotted down. The breakthrough eventually came with 15 on the clock when full back Wilson was on the end of a good passing move to touch down for her fifth international try. Mclean’s excellent conversion from out wide made it 7-0 but France hit back with 18 played through the boot of Sandrine Agricole, kicking a penalty to make it 7-3. Captain Mclean added to her points tally after 22 minutes, spotting a gap in the French defence and racing through to touch down, and the Darlington Mowden Park Sharks No. 10 secured the conversion to make it 14-3 and put England in control. Maggie Alphonsi – making her first appearance in white for 20 months – scored England’s third in typical ‘machine’ like fashion, crashing through several would-be tacklers before diving over. Mclean added the two points to make it 21-3 after 27 mins. Gary Street’s side kept their foot on the pedal though and soon had their fourth try with 35 played – wing Claire Allan was on hand to finish off a well worked move. Agricole then brought the half to a close with her second penalty to make it 26-6. England started the second half as they did the first, and with 44 played Kay Wilson scored her second try, picking up a quick pass from Alphonsi before touching down near the posts. Mclean’s slotted the conversion to make it 33-6 but France hit back just minutes later when centre Marion Lievre intercepted a loose pass and touched down. Agricole added the conversion to make it 33-13 with 47 on the clock. Laybourn scored England’s sixth after 75 minutes, showing real pace to out-run the French defence and Reed added the conversion to make it 40-13, but that wasn’t the end of the scoring as France had the final word when Lievre went over for her second try, which was converted by Agricole. Head Coach Gary Street said: "We're really pleased to get the victory, if you had offered me a 40-20 win before the game I would have taken it. We were particularly pleased with our first half performance, we perhaps eased off a litte in the second half a little but we'll address that in training this week. We put some pressure on ourselves to play well and we delivered in the most part. Canada on Wednesday is the next job and we'll be looking for another good performance there." Player of the match Rachael Burford said: “Twickenham is a special place for us, it’s our home ground and it’s great to give something back to our fans. To score 40 points against France is a real credit to our girls. The fact that they beat us in the Six Nations was mentioned, but the focus is on the future. We’re building towards the World Cup, but our main focus is on Canada on Wednesday.” England team 15 Kay Wilson (Bristol) Replacements: Tries: Kay Wilson 2, Katie Mclean, Maggie Alphonsi, Claire Allan, Ruth Laybourn Conversions: Katy Mclean 4, Amber Reed France team 15 Jessy Tremouliere Replacements: Tries: Marion Lievre 2 Conversions: Sandrine Agricole Penalties: Sandrine Agricole 2 England Autumn International Series:
Tickets are available via www.ticketmaster.co.uk (0844 847 2492) and www.quins.co.uk (0208 410 6000). Tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for Under 16s. |
