It is 32 wins in a row for England but they were made to work mighty hard for it by a France team that will be left rueing missed chances, particularly in the first-half, as they fell to a ninth successive RWC semi-final loss.
Story of the match
After four comfortable victories, England found themselves in a huge battle in front of a sold-out Ashton Gate. Lightning in defence and off-loading wherever possible, France pressurised England from the first whistle but a single score from centre Nassira Konde was scant first-half reward.
Instead, it was England who somehow snuck into the break 7-5 ahead. That they did was largely thanks to injury returnees Ellie Kildunne and Hannah Botterman. The former showed exactly why she is the reigning women’s Player of the Year, making metres galore, including a brilliant first score. The full-back knows she owed plenty to Botterman for that fourth-minute try however, the prop’s soft hands illustrating her range of skills.
Three turnovers and three scrum penalties from Botterman helped keep England in it and for much of the second-half, it was a similar story. The Red Roses started sharply and after having one score scratched off for a forward pass, the famed rolling maul struck.
But still France came. Having battered away at England’s line, they shifted it wide and late replacement wing Kelly Arbey crossed to make it a two-point game with 27 minutes left.
With nerves jangling, England then showed why they are undisputed world No.1s. First local favourite Abbie Ward cheered the capacity crowd, finishing off a fine team move, and then Kildunne struck the decisive blow, weaving in from 40 metres-plus.
There was still time for Konde to snatch a second, but England knew the job was done, with centre Meg Jones – another standout – putting on the finishing gloss in the final minute.
Mastercard Player of the Match
Despite two tries and a monster 208 metres made, Ellie Kildunne insisted the plaudits should go elsewhere. Not that the judges were listening to her.
“The first thing I said was I’ve stolen that from the rest of the team. Hannah Botterman, Maud Muir, all the forwards, you saw the defence they put in today. I barely had to make any tackles so I don’t know why I got it,” the full-back said with a laugh, before turning her attention to next Saturday.
“I’m absolutely buzzing, this is all we’ve been dreaming of. We’ve got another week of training and we’ll keep our heads down,” she added. “We know what we’ve got coming. I don’t even know what to say any more!
“Thank you to all the support, thank you to my team. We’ve got a final to go to, we need you there.”
Coach insight
For John Mitchell all the pre-match talk of a Red Rose tidal wave was way premature, with the England head coach always expecting a pitch battle.
“I knew they were going to come at us. You could tell through the events during the week and the emotion they shared in their warm-up,” Mitchell said. “We just had to win, fight our way out of it.
“We were nice and calm at half-time. It will do us a lot of good, that. We were just a bit inaccurate in the first half. This occasion does create different pressures and emotions and you just have to be able to handle it.
“To get yourself out of a difficult performance like tonight is a credit to them. Defensively, in the middle of the field we were very good. There was some courage and a lot of heart shown there.”
His opposite number, David Ortiz, was phlegmatic, the pain of another semi-final stumble offset by the pride in his team’s performance.
“We knew we could have a big fight against England, we knew we could have a big arm wrestle against them. In the end they were very strong,” Ortiz said. “In the end when they pushed a little bit harder and when we let go a little bit, that’s what made the difference.”
Stat of the day
The old saying goes, ‘defence wins titles’ and despite all the attacking brilliance of Kildunne and the bludgeoning of Botterman, it was England’s appetite to stop France scoring that ultimately won this semi-final. And leading the tackle count with 21, was the Red Roses’ Sadia Kabeya. With a tournament total of 83, the openside flanker tops the tournament charts as a whole.
Next steps
England march on to what they have desperately wanted; a home RWC final in front of a sold-out Allianz Stadium. They will face free-flowing Canada in a battle between the world No.1s and No.2s.
For France, it is another bronze medal play-off and with a selection of greats due to sign-off after this tournament, Les Bleues will not want for motivation versus dethroned defending champions, New Zealand.