England snuff out spirited France to clinch Six Nations

Breaking news from the world of sport: England snuff out spirited France to clinch Six NationsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Kildunne, who terrorised France in last year's Rugby World Cup semi-final, crossed for another two scoresByMike Henson Sport rugby union news reporterPublished17 minutes agoFrance (7) 28Tries: Bourdon Sansus (2), Grando, Bourdon Cons: Arbez (4) England (26) 43Tries: Bern, Kildunne (2), Breach (2), Cokayne Cons: Harrison (5) Pens: HarrisonEngland combined nerve and accuracy to overcome France and a raucous record crowd to clinch their eighth successive Women's Six Nations title in Bordeaux. The visitors seemed to have the contest under control when a Zoe Harrison penalty shortly after half-time put them 29-7 clear. But France, who had scored the first try of the match, found a second wind that threatened to carry them all the way to victory.

Tries from Anais Grando and Pauline Bourdon Sansus cut the favourites' lead to eight points as the volume rose in Stade Atlantique. However a well-worked try from Jess Breach, the sin-binning of France's replacement scrum-half Alexandra Chambon and a strong performance by England's replacements quelled the danger. Amy Cokayne crowned victory with a 76th-minute try, throwing the ball into the stands in celebration, triggering a chorus of jeers.

Match Details

The Red Roses' run in the tournament surpasses their own record of seven titles in a row between 2006 and 2012 and takes them to five straight Grand Slams and 38 successive Test victories. France had to settle with a new home Women's Six Nations attendance record, with 35,062 fans beating a figure of 28,000 at this fixture in 2024. More to followLine-upsFrance: Barrat; Grando, Rousset, T Feleu, Murie; Arbez, Bourdon Sansus; Mwayembe, Lazarko, Khalfaoui, Soqueta, Fall Raclot, Berthoumieu, M Feleu (c), ChamponReplacements: Riffonneau, Brousseau, Bernadou, Zago, Correa, Escudero, Chambon, QueyroiEngland: Kildunne; Breach, Jones (capt), Rowland, Moloney-MacDonald; Harrison, L Packer; Carson, Cokayne, Bern, Ives Campion, Burns, Burton, Kabeya, Feaunati.

Replacements: Powell, Crake, Muir, Short, M Packer, Robinson, Aitchison, Sing.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.