The Women’s Six Nations reached a thrilling conclusion on Friday evening, as England were denied their first Grand Slam since 2012 by a defiant France at the Stade de la Rabine in Vannes.
France 17 England 12
In front of a raucous home crowd, Gaelle Mignot was the heroine for her side as she went over either side of half time, twice at the back of a rolling maul, to deliver a 17-12 win and steal the Women’s Six Nations title from under the Red Rose’s noses.
England took the lead in the first half thanks to Lydia Thompson’s first-half score, and despite Vickii Cornborough’s first international try in the second half France held out for their second title in four years.
“Building up to the World Cup, we set ourselves goals and that was what this tournament was,” said France coach Jean-Michel Gonzalez.
“There are girls who came in who were hungry throughout the Championship. By winning the title, we marked our territory and sent a message to everyone.”
Sarah Hunter’s England were understandably dejected at the final whistle having been the Championship’s front-runners from Round 1, but having made a significant improvement from last year’s fourth-place finish she is hoping her side can use the tournament as a launch pad.
She said: “The nature of last night means we are all feeling a little bit gutted and a little bit disappointed that we couldn’t get the job done.
“I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved over the Six Nations, I don’t think many people, other than ourselves felt we could get into this position.
“That is what we have spoken about, how we need to build and continue to evolve and grow as a team.”
Ireland 45 Scotland 12
Alison Miller recreated her heroics of 2015 as she completed her second hat-trick in as many years against Scotland, but was quick to tip her cap to her teammates after their 45-12 win at Donnybrook.
Skipper Niamh Briggs also scored a try-double for the hosts while Ciara Griffin, Liz Burke, and replacement Sophie Spence put extra gloss on the victory.
The eight-try triumph ensured that Ireland maintained their 100 per cent record at home this season, and they finished their Six Nations campaign in a respectable third place.
“Hat-tricks are born out of the work that the forwards and the other girls do. You just have to be in the right place at the right time,” said Miller.
“I think it’s really important that you have a squad of 26 players that can put their hand up, and build that depth within Irish women’s rugby.
“It is really important to blood new players, and we see the talent that there is there. Okay, obviously you’re going to try new combinations, and it will be disjointed at times, but I think today showed the combinations worked really well.”
Scotland finished bottom of the Women’s Six Nations pile once again but did not let up, with Jenny Maxwell and Rhona Lloyd rewarded for their efforts with tries, and head coach Shade Munro insists the omens are good for women’s rugby in Scotland.
He said: “Overall, there has been a vast improvement and the squad has made great strides in aspects of the game.
“We’ve conceded less points than previous years and scored four tries away from home, including two against Ireland today.
“This is the start of our journey and the reality is there’s still lots of work to do, but the momentum has been created.”
Wales 12 Italy 16
Italy Women again proved to be a bogey team for Wales, beating Rhys Edwards’ side for the third season in succession by the narrow scoreline of 16-12.
The visitors raced out to a 13-0 lead at Talbot Athletic Ground thanks to Beatrice Rigoni’s first-half double, where a 17 point margin would have seen Italy jump ahead of Wales into fourth place in the standings.
But Wales No.8 Sioned Harries’ responded for the hosts with two tries of her own, one either side of the break, to prevent the unlikely coup.
“They punished us when we made mistakes and we were chasing the game quite early which was disappointing,” said Wales head coach Rhys Edwards.
“But on the whole again we showed glimpses of what we are capable of. We are in a better place than we have been previously – it’s important we stick together now and kick on over the next 12-18 months.
“We got ourselves back into the game after giving them a big head start but we made simple errors and we have to cut them out of our game to stay in these sort of games.”
Italy head coach Andrea Di Giandomenico was ecstatic to end the Championship on a high, despite recording their lowest finish in three years.
He said: “I am very happy to have ended the tournament with a victory. We improved in these two months and we have not collected all that we have sown along the way.
“I am especially happy for the girls who have worked hard. Now begins a new path and we will be ready to go back to work.”
Click here to view the complete 2016 Women’s Six Nations fixture list
