England thrash France in final World Cup warm-up

France (3) 6

Pens: Bourgeois 2

England (19) 40

Tries: Talling, Cokayne, Muir, Jones, Atkin-Davies 2 Cons: Harrison 5

England's forward supremacy told as they powered to victory away to France in their final warm-up match before the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.

The Red Roses dominated in the maul throughout the match at Stade Guy Boniface, scoring their three first-half tries through forwards Morwenna Talling, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir.

A moment of quick-thinking extended the lead after half-time. As France gave away a penalty from a scrum and the packs came up, scrum-half Natasha Hunt span the ball to the left and Megan Jones collected to score unopposed.

Replacement hooker Lark Atkin-Davies bowled over for two late tries which added gloss to the scoreline. Both were converted by Zoe Harrison, who kicked well all night - converting five tries and hitting the post with the other effort.

While not a note-perfect performance, it extends England's winning run against France to 16 successive matches.

And with the Red Roses potentially set to face the French - ranked fourth in the world - in the World Cup semi-finals, it will give further confidence to John Mitchell's team that they can get their hands on a second title.

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