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Canada capped their inaugural WXV campaign with an impressive 29-20 victory over France in Auckland on Saturday. The result, combined with New Zealand’s heavy defeat to England, means the Maple Leafs will finish in 2nd place in the top division.
Les Bleuets came out firing from the kickoff. Morgane Bourgeois slotted a penalty with under two minutes on the clock and Canada were stuck defending for much of the opening quarter. The pressure yielded a try for Pauline Bourdon when the scrumhalf squeezed over on herself from in close. Bourgeois converted to make it 10-nil.
The Canadians finally got some momentum back just before halftime. Emily Tuttosi went over the line at the back of a driving maul with Sophie de Goede’s conversion closing the gap. France were then hit with a yellow card to center Nassira Konde for a dangerous tackle on Alex Tessier, but they would hold to the break with a 10-7 lead.
With Konde still in the bin Canada took the lead early in the second half. Sara Svoboda broke free and offloaded from the tackle to Paige Farries. Sarah-Maude Lachance was next in line and then she kept the ball alive for Fancy Bermudez, who twisted out of a tackle to free Krissy Scurfield for a wonderful team try.
France were again unable to stop the driving maul and Courtney Holtkamp got the credit for another Canadian try to make it 19 unanswered points. A reply came from vice-captain Marine Ménager, who took it upon herself to come in off her wing and tear up the middle to score. The conversion made it a two-point game at the hour mark.
A fourth try for Canada stretched the lead. Bermudez worked a give-and-go with replacement winger Florence Symonds with the center showing the French defense a clean pair of heels on a 25-meter sprint to in-goal. Bourgeois landed a late three-pointer to give Les Bleuets a small window of hope, but it was erased soon after by an equal effort from de Goede.
Head Coach Kévin Rouet gave his Canadian side credit after the game:
“The aim was to get a win against a top-three team and we got it. When we come to a competition, even if we weren’t result-orientated, it would still have been nice to win WXV. Unfortunately, we missed our match against England. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. But it’s great to have finished with a win, because we won’t be seeing each other again for six months.”
SCORING
FRANCE 20
Tries (2) – P. Bourdon (14′), M. Ménager (57′)
Cons (2) – M. Bourgeois 2/2 (15′, 58′)
Pens (2) – M. Bourgeois 2/2 (2′, 73′)
YC (1) – N. Konde (39′)
CANADA 29
Tries (4) – E. Tuttosi (35′), K. Scurfield (44′), C. Holtkamp (50′), F. Bermudez (66′)
Cons (3) – S. de Goede 3/4 (36′, 45′, 67′)
Pens (1) – S. de Goede 1/1 (76′)
TEAMS
FRANCE
1 Ambre Mwayembe (18 Yllana Brosseau 49′), 2 Laure Touyé (16 Élisa Riffonneau 68′), 3 Assia Khalfaoui (17 Annaëlle Deshayes 55′), 4 Manaé Feleu (capt.), 5 Audrey Forlani (19 Kiara Zago 55′), 6 Émeline Gros (20 Lea Champon 74′), 7 Gaëlle Hermet, 8 Charlotte Escudero, 9 Pauline Bourdon (21 Alexandra Chambon 78′), 10 Lina Queyroi (22 Carla Arbez 61′), 11 Émilie Boulard, 12 Gabrielle Vernier (23 Caroline Boujard 45′), 13 Nassira Konde, 14 Marine Ménager, 15 Morgane Bourgeois
CANADA
1 McKinley Hunt (17 Brittany Kassil 59′), 2 Emily Tuttosi (16 Gillian Boag 61′), 3 DaLeaka Menin (18 Alex Ellis 68′), 4 Tyson Beukeboom (20 Julia Omukhuale 78′), 5 Courtney Holtkamp (19 Laetitia Royer 63′), 6 Gabrielle Senft, 7 Sara Svoboda, 8 Sophie de Goede (capt.), 9 Justine Pelletier (21 Olivia Apps 58′), 10 Julia Schell, 11 Krissy Scurfield (23 Florence Symonds 50′), 12 Alex Tessier, 13 Fancy Bermudez, 14 Paige Farries, 15 Sarah-Maude Lachance
Not used: 22 Shoshanah Seumanutafa
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Maggie Cogger-Orr (New Zealand)
Assistants: Lauren Jenner (New Zealand) & Tiana Anderson (New Zealand)
TMO: Rachel Horton (Australia)
Venue: Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
