England sweeps another Women’s Six Nations after beating France by one point
LONDON (AP) — England won a seventh successive Women’s Six Nations title after surviving a sensational France fightback by 43-42 at Twickenham on Saturday.
Both unbeaten teams were playing for a Grand Slam. England trailed only once, very early, and only for two minutes.
But there was nothing inevitable about its fourth successive Grand Slam even though it led 31-7 after 24 minutes, 38-21 after halftime, and 43-28 near the hour mark after winger Abby Dow’s second try and England’s seventh.
France, the last team to beat England in the championship when it won the 2018 title, stormed back in the last 10 minutes with tries by Morgane Bourgeois and Joanna Grisez, both converted by Bourgeois.
Only seconds remained after France’s sixth and last converted try in front of an entertained crowd of 37,573.
England has won 34 consecutive games in the championship, the longest streak by any side in the men’s or women’s tournaments. The English have also won 21 of the 30 women’s titles since the first championship in 1996.
They host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in August.
Ireland finished third even though it lost to Scotland 26-19 in Edinburgh. At 19-19 and the clock nearly in red, Scotland waived a penalty kick while goalkicker Helen Nelson was in the sin-bin, forced a corner lineout and worked winger Francesca McGhie over in the left corner. Nelson converted from wide out.
Whether Scotland finishes fourth for a third straight year depends on the Italy-Wales game in Parma on Sunday, which was postponed a day because of the Pope’s funeral.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
