The French women’s title, next Saturday in Bordeaux. With this improved victory, the Blues consolidate their second place (19 points) behind the “Red Roses” (20 pts), who they will meet again on the last day at the Chaban-Delmas stadium, where more than 18,000 tickets have already been sold .
A final to play against England
This meeting between the two flagship nations of European rugby is “the” meeting that the French and English wait for every year, since the Blues and Red Roses take turns competing for the title, Grand Slam at stake. Even if the Tricolores’ last success in the Tournament dates back to 2018 and, since then, it is the players from across the Channel who dominate the competition head and shoulders.
To qualify for this final, the French had to put in a complete match against the Welsh, dead last in the 2024 edition of the Tournament. And even if their touch and their discipline (three yellow cards) have seen better days, the game of the Blue, more realistic than their opponents, reassured Sunday in Cardiff, with six tries in their pocket, mastery and composure .
A good performance in scrum and defense
Manae Feleu’s teammates did the job, particularly in scrum and defense, a sector in which they are masters (no points conceded, 176 tackles, 91% of which were successful). The match, however, started badly with a yellow card for high tackle addressed in the second minute to the septist Anne-Cécile Ciofani, lined up for her first selection in XV on the wing of the Bleues.
The best sevens player in the world in 2021, silver medalist at the Tokyo Games, then quickly caught up, firing on all cylinders, like her teammates Joanna Grisez and Chloé Jacquet, other septists who started for the occasion in Cardiff.
If in the first period, possession was to the credit of the Welsh (70%) – a scenario not to be reproduced against the English -, forcing the French to play against to score tries, the situation has somewhat changed. rebalanced after the break. And as a symbol of the valuable contribution of the septists in this match, it is logical that the last try of the Bleues was the work of Grisez.