England celebrate Grand Slam treble

ENGLAND secured their sixth straight Six Nations title and third Grand Slam in a row yesterday by beating France 42-21 in Bordeaux.

- BEN JAYCOCK

In front of 28,000 fans, the Red Roses ran in six tries from Maud Muir, Alex Matthews (2), Meg Jones, Marlie Packer and Amy Cokayne, with flyhalf Holly Aitchison perfect off the tee to extend their championship-winning record to 29 games.

Head coach John Mitchell, who joined the group halfway through their WXV1 triumph in New Zealand last autumn, hailed his side’s groundbreaking achievements. “The girls are highly driven and they deserved this,” said Mitchell. “What an atmosphere. We have been speaking all competition about an arm wrestle and we certainly got that.

“The French girls came at us, but we didn’t execute as well in the 22 during the second half. There is a belief and confidence around what we are doing and that comes from the environment we are creating. A lot of the girls are challenged. The standard is tough, but the girls have done an amazing job.”

England are less than 18 months away from a home World Cup where they’ll hope to avenge their 2022 final loss to New Zealand which was their last defeat, but Mitchell isn’t looking ahead, opting instead to focus on the present.

On the World Cup next year, he said: “One step at a time. We set off at the start of 2024 to stay the best. We threw a lot into this game physically and mentally, so it looked a bit flat towards the end.”

England winger Jess Breach added: “Le Crunch is what everyone wants to play in, especially with this hostile crowd. Where we are now is just phenomenal.”