05/17/26 02:54:00
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05/17 14:53 CDT England thumps France to seal an eighth straight Women's Six
Nations title and Grand Slam
England thumps France to seal an eighth straight Women's Six Nations title and
Grand Slam
By FOSTER NIUMATA
Associated Press
England won a record eighth consecutive Women's Six Nations title and fifth
successive Grand Slam after beating host France 43-28 on Sunday.
Unbeaten France with home advantage in Bordeaux and backing from its largest
ever home crowd was expected to seriously threaten England's relentless
domination of the championship. But it struggled in the set-pieces.
England, with only six survivors from its Rugby World Cup champion team last
September, ultimately cruised to the six-try victory enhanced by Zoe Harrison's
unerring right boot. Harrison landed six of seven goalkicks and 29 of 31 in the
tournament.
The English extended their world record winning streak to 38 matches --- and 68
from 69 games since 2019 --- which won't be challenged again until September
when they host No. 2-ranked New Zealand and No. 3 Canada in the WXV.
England was at its most vulnerable in years with more than a dozen regulars out
injured or pregnant. But players new or not capped in three years melded
superbly with world-class performers such as first-time captain Megan Jones,
Ellie Kildunne, Amy Cokayne and Sadia Kabeya.
Coach John Mitchell, who took over the Red Roses in autumn 2023 and has yet to
oversee a loss, believed the number of missing players made winning their 22nd
Six Nations from 31 championships harder than winning the World Cup.
"It was great to win a World Cup at home but what we've navigated through this
tournament, the youth coming through, the mates at home becoming mums or going
through rehab ... these girls are so brave," he said. "They're unbelievably
driven."
Kildunne was named player of the match after scoring two tries along with Jess
Breach. Cokayne touched down in all five tests and Kabeya notched 27 tackles
and had seemingly as many carries.
A patient England weathered a ferocious French start to lead the
winner-takes-all finale 26-7 by halftime. While England is a fast starter,
France is renowned as a fast finisher and fought back to trail only 29-21 with
a quarter to go.
But that's as close as France got in front of a record home crowd of 35,062.
Eventually, chief playmaker Pauline Bourdon Sansus, the only survivor of
France's last win over England in 2018 --- also England's last defeat in the
championship --- came off but her scrumhalf replacement, Alexandra Chambon, was
sin-binned.
England, after conceding nine tries in its previous two matches, restricted the
best defensive team to four tries, two by Bourdon Sansus, and Jones was proud.
"We've adapted so well," Jones said. "We faced so much adversity This group is
so resilient, I'm so proud of them. We asked for a good defensive set because
everyone was doubting our defense and we fronted up and we showed what
England's about."
The final standings repeated 2025. France was runner-up for a seventh straight
year. Ireland was third after thrashing Scotland 54-5 in Dublin, and Italy was
fourth after condemning Wales to an unprecedented third straight wooden spoon.
Riding the wave of a sensational Women's World Cup, Six Nations total
attendance was 279,760, easily surpassing the previous record of 188,128 in
2024. New attendance records were set in England, France, Ireland, Italy and
Scotland, boosted by record TV viewership and online engagement.
Ireland 54, Scotland 5
Ireland celebrated a crowd of 31,294, more than three times its previous home
record, in its first standalone test at Aviva Stadium.
The Irish finished a dream first half at 47-0. With 92% territory and nearly
80% possession they scored seven tries, two by player of the match Aoife Wafer.
Ireland added only one more try but didn't allow Scotland into its 22 until the
77th minute.
"The first half was the best version of us," coach Scott Bemand said.
Italy 43, Wales 24
Wales spent the week focused on fixing its third quarter slump. It didn't sink
in at Cardiff Arms Park.
Italy, down 19-17 at halftime, used breakdown turnovers and its powerful
forwards to give tries to Francesca Sgorbini and Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi and
control finally at 29-19.
Despite losing winger Francesca Granzotto to the sin-bin for a tip tackle,
Italy secured victory when the pack walked a maul 15 meters and laid on a try
for player-of-the-match flyhalf Veronica Madia with 11 minutes left.
The win was a fitting retirement gift for lock Valeria Fedrighi, playing her
10th Six Nations. Fedrighi is the only Italian beside Martin Castrogiovanni to
win league titles in England and France.
Italy finished with seven tries to four by Wales, which suffered a 10th
straight loss in the championship.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
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