England produced yet another impressive performance to defeat France 33-10 in the first match of their autumn double-header at Stade des Alpes.
Simon Middleton’s side continued where they left off after a claiming a second successive Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam, with the Red Roses running in three tries in the process.
Amy Cokayne got the ball rolling early for the visitors, before Gaelle Hermet levelled midway through the first half, in a well-contested opening period.
England put their foot down after the break though, with tries from Alex Matthews and Jess Breach putting them out of sight early in the second half, as they shut Annick Hayraud’s side out at the other end.
The Red Roses got off to the perfect start in Grenoble, as they put pressure on the hosts’ try line from the first whistle, with Cokayne touching down at the back of a maul within five minutes.
But France responded, giving as good as they got throughout the first half, and were eventually rewarded when captain Hermet reached out to level the scores with 20 minutes played.
The hosts capitalised on a lineout close to the England try line, before firing the ball to the skipper, who fended off attention from the visitors’ backline to touch down.
A penalty apiece saw the teams go into the break with the score at 10-10, before England flew into the ascendency in the opening stages of the second half, with Matthews weaving her way through after a break from Helena Rowland.
And that score seemed to open the floodgates for the reigning Women’s Six Nations champions, with a Breach special coming just minutes later, which left the hosts on the ropes.
The Harlequins star picked the ball up on halfway, before slaloming her way through the French defence to cross under the posts and make the score 24-10 with half an hour remaining.
Three more kicks from the boot of Emily Scarratt rounded off the scoring in the Alps, as the Red Roses return to number one in the world rankings as a result.
