BRISTOL, England -- ... And breathe.
After being tested to their limits by an outstanding France performance, England arm-wrestled their way into the final of the 2025 Women's World Cup and kept everything on script. But the Red Roses will have plenty to pick through after this 35-17 win, where for so much of the match, they were thankful for French profligacy.
England got through this tricky tie through sheer belligerence and because of their outstanding pack, but with the first half played out in sodden conditions, their handling levels were poor and had France had that touch more ruthlessness in attack, this could have been a whole lot more nerve-wracking.
Ultimately, the Red Roses managed to keep alive their dreams of winning this home World Cup as they ended up scoring five tries against France. They had two breakaway Ellie Kildunne scores in either half. The first included a wonderful offload from the outstanding Hannah Botterman, and the second came off a fortuitous bounce, finding Kildunne's outstretched arms as she then ran through half of France to dive over and secure the victory.
Both were individual efforts but if you want a fairer representation of what this win took and how it came about then you look at Amy Cokayne's in the 46th minute where she was holding onto the ball off the back of a rolling maul from 22 to tryline, and then Abbie Ward's 13 minutes later as she burrowed over after more decent work from the forwards. This was down to sheer power, ably assisted by the brilliant all-court performance of Megan Jones at outside centre who grabbed their fifth.
But you felt their game plan in the first half was ill-suited to the conditions, leaving Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison attempting to play more expansive rugby when it needed boot put to ball. And so it resulted in several handling errors and uncharacteristic mistakes.
France went into the break just two points behind England, but they really should've been in the lead after they squandered one walk-in after Marine Menager's pass found the ground instead of the open Lea Champon and then had another chalked off after they spun out a long, forward pass when they just needed to put it through the hands to profit off an overlap and score. Bear in mind, this was a France team without several key figures: the suspended Manae Feleu and Axelle Berthoumieu, the concussed Lina Queyroi and injured Joanna Grisez.
France will also feel extremely aggrieved at some of the refereeing, with England feeling the benefit of calls at the breakdown, and also some bungling around a potential knock-on in the build-up to England's first try and then some poor calls in the second half.
France can feel proud of the effort they put in here, but it's England who progress.
All tournament, John Mitchell's side played with an immense pressure on their shoulders. Rarely has a competition played out where a team have been such overwhelming favourites. This was their 32nd unbeaten match on the bounce, and their 17th in a row against France. It's a ridiculous set of statistics and underlines why they are the dominant force in world rugby, and why we have to judge them against the standards and level of performance we know they are capable of.
Ultimately, having managed to overcome this test, this can now be reflected on as a valuable afternoon for England.
- Match report: England 35-17 France
- Canada crowdfunded their way to the World Cup. Now they're in the final
- Amy Cokayne: The RAF officer and one-time Kiwi powering England's scrum
Given England's record against France, there were fears they may have been undercooked for Saturday's final against the outstanding Canada, who dismantled the Black Ferns on Friday. But doubt no longer. This was more than a dress rehearsal for their final, this was the match where all best laid plans could have come crashing down. Instead, they found a way through, thanks to unwavering self-belief, trust in the process and ultimately, power and re-tuned accuracy. That it was Jones who scored their fifth was fitting for what should have been officially a Player of the Match display.
All tournament the Red Roses have used the analogy of summiting Everest as a means of describing their journey. They talked this week about being in the "death zone" -- knowing one slip could bring everything crashing down.
This was a treacherous test. But they came through, and there's zero danger of them not being battle-hardened for next weekend. This was the test they needed, and they found a way through. It's the mentality that champions are made of.
Now they have one more match to secure their spot in rugby immortality.