France vs England - Saturday 1.15pm, BBC2

[Puja]

I normally don't enjoy watching women's rugby as much, because there aren't that many competitive teams at the top level - put England against any team that's not New Zealand or France and the question isn't who's won, but how big is the score (except when we put out our C team cause all the best players have gone off to do 7s). However, this should be a belter - away in France, both sides putting out strong teams, live on BBC and situated nicely before the Georgia game for an afternoon of rugby.

France: Izar; Bertrand, Filopon, Neisen, Menager; Drouin, Sansus; Deshaye, Sochat, Bernadou, Ferer, Diallo, Mayans, Hermet, Gros.

Replacements: Touye, Ait Lahbib, Pelle, Feleu, Lecat, Bourdon, Vernier, Pignot.

England: Kildunne; Breach, Scarratt (capt), Harrison, Dow; Rowland, Riley; Cornborough, Cokayne, Brown, Ward (vice-capt), Cleall, Matthews, Packer, Beckett.

Replacements: Davies, Harper, Keates, Talling, Millar-Mills, MacDonald, Smith, Jones.


If anyone is not familiar with the players, the ones to watch are Poppy Cleall (5) a really heavy-duty hard carrier, Emily Scarratt (13) a long-striding centre with an ability to pick great lines (think Will Greenwood with pace), and Ellie Kildunne(15) absolutely rapid with a vicious step (like Phil Christophers if the step went both ways).

Puja

[Mellsblue]

No mentions for Packer, Brown or Breach. What do you need to do get the Puja seal of approval, especially in Breach’s case?!?!?
Scarratt is class, on and off the pitch. I think she may be England’s best/most consistent test player of the 2010s, man or woman.

[Puja]

No mentions for Packer, Brown or Breach. What do you need to do get the Puja seal of approval, especially in Breach’s case?!?!?
Scarratt is class, on and off the pitch. I think she may be England’s best/most consistent test player of the 2010s, man or woman.

I can't name the whole team as ones to watch! Plus, it may be highly unfair to Brown, but I'm just sad there's no Sarah Bern as I love watching her play.

The bolded bit is a big claim considering Maggie Alphonsi was playing till 2014.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

No mentions for Packer, Brown or Breach. What do you need to do get the Puja seal of approval, especially in Breach’s case?!?!?
Scarratt is class, on and off the pitch. I think she may be England’s best/most consistent test player of the 2010s, man or woman.

I can't name the whole team as ones to watch! Plus, it may be highly unfair to Brown, but I'm just sad there's no Sarah Bern as I love watching her play.

The bolded bit is a big claim considering Maggie Alphonsi was playing till 2014.

Puja

Unacceptable. I demand a full analysis of each player, including gifs.

[Puja]

No mentions for Packer, Brown or Breach. What do you need to do get the Puja seal of approval, especially in Breach’s case?!?!?
Scarratt is class, on and off the pitch. I think she may be England’s best/most consistent test player of the 2010s, man or woman.

I can't name the whole team as ones to watch! Plus, it may be highly unfair to Brown, but I'm just sad there's no Sarah Bern as I love watching her play.

The bolded bit is a big claim considering Maggie Alphonsi was playing till 2014.

Puja

Unacceptable. I demand a full analysis of each player, including gifs.

I'm sorry, you're never going to convince someone who still has Neil Back as his avatar that there was ever a finer player of the sport than Alphonsi. She was just an absolute class apart - the only other player I've seen be as single-handedly destructive to an opposition is Willis on occasions for Wasps.

I once spoke to her in my professional life and she turned out to be a really decent person too. She needed a mortgage back in 2012ish and the person who was dealing with her case wasn't in, so I leapt at the opportunity to take on extra work so I could talk to her and (very politely and after I'd sorted out what she needed professionally) fanboy at her. I think I made her day, cause this was back before the WRWC win and waaay before she had any punditry work that'd give her any major name recognition, so to have somebody be very excited to speak to her was quite novel, I think.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

I can't name the whole team as ones to watch! Plus, it may be highly unfair to Brown, but I'm just sad there's no Sarah Bern as I love watching her play.

The bolded bit is a big claim considering Maggie Alphonsi was playing till 2014.

Puja

Unacceptable. I demand a full analysis of each player, including gifs.

I'm sorry, you're never going to convince someone who still has Neil Back as his avatar that there was ever a finer player of the sport than Alphonsi. She was just an absolute class apart - the only other player I've seen be as single-handedly destructive to an opposition is Willis on occasions for Wasps.

I once spoke to her in my professional life and she turned out to be a really decent person too. She needed a mortgage back in 2012ish and the person who was dealing with her case wasn't in, so I leapt at the opportunity to take on extra work so I could talk to her and (very politely and after I'd sorted out what she needed professionally) fanboy at her. I think I made her day, cause this was back before the WRWC win and waaay before she had any punditry work that'd give her any major name recognition, so to have somebody be very excited to speak to her was quite novel, I think.

Puja

Was talking about your frankly lazy refusal to name the whole team. I won’t argue with you about Alphonsi as I can see the merits in both her and Scarratt as 2010s player of the decade.

[fivepointer]

Should be a good game. Great that its live on BBC giving serious exposure to the womens game. I'm a big Bern fan too, so its disappointing she wont be playing.

[Digby]

Not a bad game so far, momentum swinging towards France as the 1st half wore on.

[Digby]

Two miserably bad clearing kicks from France and things are looking up

[Puja]

Couple of excellent runs from Rowlands and Breach. It's the class of this England team - the French have had a load of the ball and then we pull out two tries from individual brilliance.

What is it with the French and having superb sniping scrum-halves? Their 9 is their best player - looks dangerous every time she gets her hands on the ball.

Puja

[Digby]

I was taking the view both 5s have been having huge games and were the best players out there. But Diallo is taking a few moments to go absent, presumably to try and get some air into her lungs. Given I don't know what prep has been like it's pointless taking any swipe at match fitness

[Digby]

Not sure if France just don't believe, or just don't have the legs, both might be true

[Puja]

Not sure if France just don't believe, or just don't have the legs, both might be true

I think they had the wind knocked out of them by those two tries. They are used to losing to us, so when it suddenly went from level pegging to a 14 point gap, I think their heads went down.

Puja

[Digby]

Nowt to do with today's game but as a homage to the game being in Grenoble