- French too powerful for England A
- England unable to keep winning run going
France Women A 20-0 England Women A
England A suffered their first defeat of the year on Friday night with their French counterparts getting the better of them in Rennes.
After victories over Spain and the Nomads Mike Barnett’s side were in great shape going into the game, but the tourists were slow out of the blocks and France immediately took advantage.
France underlined just this in the opening quarter scoring two quick tries. First a good kick to touch saw England put under pressure with a defensive line out just five metres from the try line. England then gave away a penalty, and with France commanding the scrum a good clear out then saw Audrey Parra cross.
The conversion was missed but France headed into 12-0 lead after as many minutes when once again England couldn’t cope with the pressure. Another good scrum saw the ball moved out through the backs and fullback Aurelia Cellier went close, but Celine Huguy was in support to touch down. This time Christelle Le Duff added the conversion before minutes later adding a penalty.
England had to take another knock with France running in their third try after the half hour mark. This time England were turned over in their own half, and despite some dogged defending, France kept the ball alive for Stephanie Provost to take it on on the right wing and score handing France a 20-0 lead at the break.
A rallying team talk at half time saw England come back out with more vigour and challenging the French dominance, and although Gemma Sharples went close to scoring, the tourists just couldn’t convert their chances into points.
England A Head Coach Barnett said: “The French started better than us and that gave us too much of a mountain to climb. They took their chances early on, defended well and stopped our continuity and that put us on the back foot. We had a much better second half, but at that point we were too far behind to really turn the table.”
England Women A
15 Abigail Chamberlain (Richmond), 14 Francesca Matthews (Richmond), 13 Georgina Roberts (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 12 Kimberley Oliver (Bristol), 11 Michaela Staniford (Wasps), 10 Danielle Knight (Lichfield), 9 Georgina Rozario (Bristol), 1 Laura Keates (Worcester), 2 Samantha Reeve (Worcester), 3 Rosemarie Crowley (Lichfield), 4 Natalie Binstead (Wasps), 5 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond), 6 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield), 7 Gemma Sharples (Worcester), 8 Sonia Green (C) (Saracens)
Replacements
16 Monica Lewinska (Bristol), 17 Katy Storie (Team Northumbria), 18 Sara Anastasi (Richmond), 19 Jenny Brightmore (Worcester), 20 Sarah Guest (Worcester), 21 Natasha Hunt (Bristol), 22 Jennifer Edwards (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
Tries:
Conversions:
Penalties:
Substitutions: Storie for Keates (45), Keates for Storie (48), Guest for Rozario (51), Brightmore for Binstead, Knight for Hunt (both 63), Anastasi for Keates, Lewinska for Hunter
France Women A
15 Aurelia Cellier, 14 Laurelin Fourcade, 13 Christelle LeDuff, 12 Céline Heguy, 11 Cathy Langenfeld, 10 Audrey Parra, 9 Stéphanie Provost, 1 Sonia Amat, 2 Gaëlle Mignot, 3 Sandrine Legros, 4 Elise Jacques, 5 Carole Lignon, 6 Sylvie Bernard, 7 Lucie Canal, 8 Gabrielle Mutis
Replacements
16 Cyndia Mansard, 17 Diane Skotnicki, 18 Céline Barthelemy, 19 Aïda Ba, 20 Koumiba Djossouvi, 21 Annabelle Amblard, 22 Perrine Beaucourt
Tries: Parra, Hugey, Provost
Conversions: Leduff (1)
Penalties: Leduff
Substitutions:
Referee: Brian McNiece
Assistant Referees: Pascal Lafon & Francois Douce
England A Fixtures and Results:
Feb 7th: England A v Nomads, Esher RFC WON 12-10
Feb 14th: Spain v England A, Gijon WON 10-5
March 13th: England A v Nomads, Esher RFC WON 26-7
March 19th: England A v France A, Stade Vellodrome, Rennes LOST 20-0