England beat France by a point to claim Grand Slam

Women's Six Nations

England (31) 43

Tries: Dow 2, Sing 2, Atkin-Davies, MacDonald, Aldcroft Cons: Harrison 4

France (21) 42

Tries: Arbez, Bourdon, Menager, Arbey, Bourgeois, Grisez Cons: Bourgeois 6

England held off a late France fightback to secure a fourth consecutive Women's Six Nations Grand Slam and a seventh straight title.

The victory at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham extends the Red Roses' winning run to 25 games as they count down to the home Rugby World Cup that starts in August.

In front of a crowd of 37,573, the hosts came out of the blocks quickly to score the opening try through the prolific Abby Dow.

Fly-half Carla Arbez quickly responded before John Mitchell's side ruthlessly scored four tries to take control.

Full-back Emma Sing, in for the injured Ellie Kildunne, grabbed two tries, while hooker Lark Atkin-Davies and in-form wing Claudia MacDonald also crossed.

However, a dropped ball by Zoe Harrison gifted scrum-half Pauline Bourdon Sansus a try and France capitalised on that momentum when centre Marine Menager scored to cut the gap to 10 points at the break.

Captain Zoe Aldcroft restored England's advantage but that was quickly cancelled out by Kelly Arbey, who produced a sensational finish down the wing.

Dow and Morgane Bourgeois then traded tries before Joanna Grisez raced away to set up a nervy finish in a highly entertaining and evenly balanced second half.

England's last defeat in the Six Nations was against France in 2018 and their record run of championship wins has now moved to 34 games.

It is Mitchell's second Grand Slam since taking over side in the autumn of 2023, with the Red Roses last tasting defeat in the World Cup final by New Zealand in 2022.

Last year in Bordeaux, England recorded a clinical 42-21 victory to clinch yet another Grand Slam, with Holly Aitchison controlling things from fly-half.

Saracens fly-half Harrison has edged out Aitchison for selection in this campaign because of her tactical kicking game, and that aspect of her game was illustrated in the opening score as her perfectly weighted grubber kick set up Dow.

France came into the fixture undefeated but did suffer a scare in Italy last Saturday, when they were down at half-time and needed a second-half response to keep alive their Grand Slam hopes.

Neat offloading got the visitors in behind England's defence and the ball soon found its way to Arbez, who danced over for what looked to be a statement score.

However, much of the opening period followed the events of the first half in Parma last week, as Sing went over for the first of her two straightforward finishes.

Wing MacDonald added to her two tries in a player-of-the-match performance over Scotland last Saturday, with another sharp finish that followed tries by Atkin-Davies and Sing.

With the Red Roses in complete control of the game, Harrison - after a low pass from Natasha Hunt - made the same mistake she did in Cardiff by dropping the ball on her own tryline and that was punished by Bourdon to give hope to France, who were down to 14 players with Assia Khalfaoui in the sin bin.

When the prop returned from her punishment for a high tackle, France ended the half the stronger as Menager finished off some slick hands to close the gap to 10 points.

The last time France travelled to Twickenham in 2023 they scored a remarkable 33 second-half points to almost produce a miracle comeback and snatch the Grand Slam.

England made sure they started the second period quickly to prevent a repeat, Harrison showing off her running game to dummy and get in behind France's defence and set up Aldcroft.

France, however, refused to go away. Arbey fended off Sing and Dow to race clear for a magical score and continue another high-scoring thriller in Twickenham.

Harrison continued her impressive response to the unexpected first-half fumble by supplying a long floated pass for Dow's second.

Unstructured rugby is when Les Bleues tend to be at their best and once things opened up Bourgeois and Grisez grabbed scores to help set up a grandstand finish.

The clock was in the red as Harrison restarted the game and as Mitchell's side walked to halfway the home crowd erupted in a show of support.

A second eruption followed as France spilled the ball to conclude a pulsating finish.

If both sides top their World Cup pool and win their quarter-finals they will meet in the final four of this year's World Cup.

Victory at Allianz Stadium maintains England's invincible aura over France, which could prove pivotal come September in that potential semi-final meeting in Bristol.

It was also Aldcroft's final chance to lift a trophy in the same venue that hosts the World Cup final, as Mitchell's grand plan for 2025 remains on track by the finest of margins.

England: Sing; Dow, Jones, Heard, MacDonald; Harrison, Hunt; Botterman, Atkin-Davies, Muir, Talling, Ward, Aldcroft (capt), Feaunati, Matthews.

Replacements: Cokayne, Clifford, Bern, Galligan, Burton, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland.

France: Bourgeois; Grisez, M Menager, Vernier, Arbwy; Arbez, Bourdon; Brosseau, Bigot, Khalfaoui, M Feleu (capt), Fall-Raclot, Escudero, Champon, T Feleu.

Replacements: Riffonneau, Mwayembe, Bernadou, Zago, Berthoumieu, Maka, Chambon, Queyroi.

Referee: Maggie Cogger-Orr (NZ)

TMO: Quinton Immelman (SA)