France stun New Zealand in Super Series

France have done it again. Having defeated the Black Ferns in Grenoble this past November, Les Bleues pulled off the biggest upset of the Women’s Rugby Super Series with a stunning 25-16 win over the World Cup champions at Chula Vista on Saturday afternoon.

It was an extraordinary effort from France, who jumped out to an 18-6 halftime lead after a brilliant opening 40 minutes. They also played nearly 20 minutes shorthanded, twice being reduced to only 13 players, and lost outstanding center Maëlle Filopon to a serious knee injury with 11 minutes to play.

The opening try came just five minutes in. A wide move put Jessy Trémoulière in space, and after dragging in the defense she offloaded to Caroline Boujard for the finish. Trémoulière couldn’t connect on the conversion but made good on a penalty soon after.

Another Trémoulière attempt bounced off the uprights but Filopon was quickest to react for an opportunistic try. This time Trémoulière was on song for the conversion, with a fourth successful kicking adding three points soon after.

Now trailing 18-0, New Zealand finally kicked into gear after the restart. Kendra Cocksedge, winning her 50th cap, landed a penalty goal and the pressure stayed on until first Caroline Thomas and then Audrey Forlani were shown yellow cards. Cocksedge landed her a goal after the second yellow.

A third penalty kick opened the scoring for the Black Ferns in the second half and closed the gap to 18-9. The killer blow came next, however, as Trémoulière screamed onto the pass of Élise Pignot to race in under the posts for a seven-pointer.

With time winding down New Zealand’s forwards went to work and after Pauline Bourdon saw yellow for a breakdown offense, the driving maul earned a penalty try just a minute later. Gaëlle Hermet joined Bourdon in the bin to make for a nervous conclusion but some France held on to record a famous victory.

The Black Ferns will enjoy a bye in the next round before playing England on Sunday with the Series title likely on the line. France will celebrate but not too long as they face the Red Roses first in a Six Nations rematch on Wednesday.

 

SCORING

FRANCE 25
Tries – C. Boujard (5′), M. Filopon (15′), J. Trémoulière (60′)
Cons – J. Tremouliere 2/3 (16′, 61′)
Pens – J. Tremouliere 2/3 (11′, 23′)
Yellow cards – C. Thomas (31′), A. Forlani (33′), P. Bourdon (72′), G. Hermet (73′)

NEW ZEALAND 16
Tries – Penalty try (75′)
Pens – K. Cocksedge 3/3 (24′, 33′, 53′)

 

TEAMS

FRANCE
1 Lise Arricastre, 2 Caroline Thomas, 3 Annaëlle Deshayes, 4 Madoussou Fall, 5 Audrey Forlani, 6 Céline Ferer, 7 Coumba Diallo, 8 Gaëlle Hermet (capt.), 9 Pauline Bourdon, 10 Morgane Peyronnet, 11 Morgane Ménager, 12 Gabrielle Vernier, 13 Maëlle Filopon, 14 Caroline Boujard, 15 Jessy Trémoulière

Replacements: 16 Agathe Sochat, 17 Célia Domain, 18 Clara Joyeux, 19 Fiona Lecat, 20 Emeline Gros, 21 Camille Imart, 22 Laure Sansus, 23 Élise Pignot

NEW ZEALAND
1 Toka Natua, 2 Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate, 3 Aleisha-Pearl Nelson, 4 Eloise Blackwell, 5 Charmaine Smith, 6 Pia Tapsell, 7 Marcelle Parkes, 8 Charmaine McMenamin, 9 Kendra Cocksedge (capt.), 10 Ruahei Demant, 11 Ayesha Leti-I’iga, 12 Kelly Brazier, 13 Carla Hohepa, 14 Renee Wickliffe, 15 Selica Winiata

Replacements: 16 Luka Connor, 17 Phillipa Love, 18 Leilani Perese, 19 Karli Faneva, 20 Kennedy Simon, 21 Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu, 22 Chelsey Alley, 23 Alena Saili

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Joy Neville (IRFU)
Assistants: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU) & Amelia Luciano (USAR)