A priori neither Louis Aragon nor Jean Ferrat were great rugby fans but the famous verse ” women are men’s future “Written by one and magnified by the other adapts perfectly to the players of the XV of France: their future seems to marry exactly that of the men in the Six Nations Tournament. The victory (5-33) in Wales, this Friday, allows the Blue to dream of the Grand Slam. And like Fabien Galthié’s boys, Annick Hayraud’s girls will face England next week. The setting will be less prestigious than the Stade de France since the match will be played in Bayonne to sold-out crowds. But this final between the two best teams of the Tournament, both undefeated (Editor’s note: England faces Ireland this Sunday and should logically win) promises to be sumptuous.
Aware that despite their first three victories, not everything had been perfect, the Blues had decided to close ranks and focus above all on their most experienced players. For this semi-final which did not say its name, France on the synthetic lawn of Arms Park in Cardiff, the small, not the huge setting of 52,000 places, got into the right direction. That of the wind which was blowing quite strongly in the Welsh capital. From the start, Gaëlle Hermet’s teammates decided to camp in the Welsh half of the field and even to put the pegs from the blue tent in the opposing 22m. In a first one-sided period, Cardiff spectators saw nothing but blue. Pressure, talent, speed. Everything was stronger with the French and the trials followed one another.
From the 9th minute, Laure Sansus served by Vernier, takes the interval and slips behind the line to register her fifth try of the Tournament. In the 29th, with a pretty cunning on a Welsh scrum, she brought her total to six tries. And in the meantime, Caroline Boujard (14th), then Chloé Jacquet after a powerful 60m race, had also crossed the line. At the break, the Bleues led well 0-26, offensive bonus as a bonus. There was then, after the rest, only to manage the organisms. Despite a new try from Tremoulière (55th), the match waned in intensity. Normal: even if the tricolor crampons still trampled the Welsh ground, the heads were already turned towards the shock against the English. To imitate men to the end.