A last-gasp try secured England Women their first victory over France since 2013 on Tuesday night, running out 17-13 winners in the Women’s Rugby Super Series in Utah, USA.
Worcester Valkyries’ Ceri Large crossed for England while Zoe Aldcroft touched down from a powerful drive in the final play of the game to guide the Women to victory.
Having lost out 52-17 to Canada on Friday, Scott Bemand’s team had a point to prove, but an attritional first-half ended 6-3 to France with both defences coming out on top.
Amber Reed’s 46-metre penalty attempt after six minutes was on line but fell short, and two attempts from French centre Camille Boudaud sailed through to put France 6-0 up after half an hour.
A persistent defensive effort from England halted a French rolling maul right on their line, with Tamara Taylor eventually forcing the turnover. This spurred England on to earn their first points of the game through Reed’s boot.
Renewed intensity in the second-half saw England rewarded for their relentless pressure when Large’s dummy allowed her to cut inside for the game’s opening try, which Reed converted.
France responded, scrambling over the line with less than ten minutes remaining through Agathe Sochat.
However, with France having denied England the 2016 Six Nations title, they were not to be deprived again as they pounded away at the French line after a series of penalties.
The experience of the forwards paid off with the pack bundling over for the game-winning score with the clock in the red.
Lead Coach Scott Bemand said: “That was another typically tough test against the French. Every time we play them, these are genuinely physical and hard matches.
“Perhaps we would have liked to have seen a bit more on the scoreboard but fair play to the French, they defended well and got us under pressure when they went ahead. The character in our group of players, and how they came back from the result against Canada, to keep playing to the death, shows that they understand how to win these international matches.”
England now have until Saturday to recover before taking on the US Eagles side that lost 19-13 to France in their opener.
Fly-half Reed said: “The USA will pose a totally different challenge. We know they will come at us hard but we’ve just got to look at ourselves and how we play, build our structure, and how we want to characterise ourselves as a team.”
England Women fixtures/results
Canada 52-17 England
England 17-13 France
USA v England, Saturday 9 July