One step forward, two steps back. We had left our blue on the last day of the 6 nations, failing a small point (42-43) of a coronation which has been leaking them for seven years. But a little more than three months later, they were able to measure the ditch again that separates them from their angry neighbors, hosts from the next World Cup from August 22 to September 27.
This Saturday, the French did not exist, failing to register the slightest try with two small penalties in the end. An assessment far too thin, especially in front of the English compressor roll, which was already 12-0 after a quarter of an hour.
The Red Roses gave the impression of mastering the end-to-end meeting, scoring their third try in the wake of the first three points of the Blue (3-19, 37th). The fourth came in the same circumstances, three minutes after the second evening penalty of Morgane Bourgeois (6-26, 47th).
And then curtain, with a large domination of the English, who came to agglutinate in the 22 French without perforating them. At least until the 75th minute, when they went into force after a touch and then came back by making their physical domination speak (6-40, 78th).
Six tests cashed for no marked, a real correction and a fourteenth setback in a row for the blue in the crunch. We have to go back to 2018 for the last victory (18-17), which at the time offered the last six nations to France.
“It is not mentally hard, there is a lot of frustration,” concedes Charlotte Escudero at the microphone of France 4. We got caught everywhere. The public brought us a lot but on the ground, we were not there. »»
The Blue will launch their global campaign on Saturday August 23 against Italy. They will continue with matches against Brazil and South Africa. But this heavy defeat against England will certainly slow down their ambitions.