Kelly Arbey has made a habit of scoring against England. Having made her mark with a hat-trick of tries for France Under-20s against the Red Roses a year ago, the jet-heeled young wing added to her record with a spectacular solo try for the senior team at Twickenham in April, holding off two defenders from a standing start before speeding down the line.<\/p>\n
The Red Roses responded within minutes but the effort was a catalyst for a late resurgence from Les Bleues in the Six Nations decider. \u201cWe were under pressure at that point of the game, so it helped us get back into the match and gave the team a boost,\u201d says Arbey. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arbey\u2019s stunning try helped stake her claim for a spot in the World Cup squad. \u201cI hadn\u2019t played against England at that level before, so this was something else entirely. The game was a lot quicker, the hits were harder, and to play against an England side who are that good gives you a boost.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old echoes the French camp\u2019s sense of optimism after pushing England all the way<\/a>, despite ultimately falling to a 15th straight defeat: \u201cWe made an impression on the best team in the world, so it\u2019s very positive.<\/p>\n \u201cWe showed that we can compete with them. The result hurt us, but it also makes us want to come back stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n A native of the Tarn d\u00e9partement, Arbey began playing rugby at her father\u2019s former club Revel before joining Castres at an early age, training alongside her studies. Arbey, who also took up football, tennis and judo as a child, was inspired to start playing rugby by her older brother when she was four. \u201cHe had an important role in my life, and still does today. He stopped playing after three years, but I kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly Arbey makes a run before scoring a try for France against England at Twickenham in April. Photograph: Charlotte Wilson\/Offside\/Getty Images<\/p>\n She made the short move south-west to sign for Toulouse, then the reigning national champions, in 2022. \u201cThat\u2019s where it all began, where the gates to the French national teams were opened to me,\u201d she says. \u201cAt Toulouse, our training sessions were during the day, the same as for the boys, and it was more professional.\u201d<\/p>\n Arbey is one of the youngest players in France\u2019s World Cup squad, which the head coaches Ga\u00eblle Mignot and David Ortiz finalised this week. While she only graduated to the senior national team in March 2024, the following 12 months gave her international experience on several fronts as she crossed over to sevens. \u201cI wasn\u2019t doubting myself, I just took things as they came,\u201d she says of a year which saw her juggle between two codes all the while continuing her physiotherapy studies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a bit unexpected, it happened after a few players were injured,\u201d Arbey admits of her debut against Ireland in last year\u2019s Six Nations. \u201cI took it as a big opportunity, I still had to prove myself. I worked hard, both on and off the pitch, and I got the chance to play.\u201d Her first try for the XV de France came just a week later, against Scotland.<\/p>\n Arbey\u2019s inclusion in the sevens team after the Paris Olympics, which saw her take part in the Dubai, Cape Town and Perth tournaments, also proved pivotal for her progression. \u201cIt\u2019s helped me a lot in terms of my reading of the game, especially of open spaces.<\/p>\n \u201cTechnically speaking, I was able to improve my passing and kicking games. It also helped with my cardio, since it\u2019s a sport where everything is always at full speed.\u201d<\/p>\n Playing several matches in quick succession over the course of a weekend also helped her to build up a capacity for recovery. \u201cWhen you lose a match in Sevens, you have to be able to move on to the next one quickly. That mentality helps me a lot and I think it\u2019s very positive \u2013 now I can say, OK, we\u2019ve lost against England: where did it go wrong and what can we do to stop that from happening again?\u201d<\/p>\n When you\u2019re playing against a team of that level, you know that any error will cost you points<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The decision to phase Arbey back into the senior team at the start of the year has more than paid off. \u201cThe coaching staff help me really well with that transition. Every time I go back to union from sevens, and vice-versa, I spend a month back in Toulouse getting accustomed to it again.\u201d<\/p>\n The Stade Toulousain back also plans to remain involved in sevens for the foreseeable future: \u201cNext year, I\u2019ll be back with them to prepare for the next Olympics. It\u2019s a longer-term objective, but it\u2019s something to keep in mind, it\u2019s in three years and we need to be ready for it.\u201d For now, though, the focus is on beating England, in Saturday\u2019s warm-up match in Mont-de-Marsan and in the World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal was to leave our mark, to show that we\u2019re here. Now that we\u2019re in their heads, and they know who we are, we\u2019ll have to keep pushing to get the win.\u201d Like the rest of the France setup, however, Arbey is acutely aware of the aspects Les Bleues have needed to improve: \u201cWhen you\u2019re playing against a team of that level, you know that any error will cost you points, so you have to be disciplined. That\u2019s something we need to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n A semi-final against England next month could stand between France and a first-ever World Cup final. Arbey is not looking that far ahead, though: \u201cWe can\u2019t start imagining ourselves in the final \u2013 we\u2019ll have to win our other matches first to build up our confidence.<\/p>\n Kelly Arbey will win her sixth senior cap against England on Saturday. Photograph: David Winter\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n \u201cIn the group stage we\u2019ll be starting off against Italy, who are a hard team to beat. We played well against them in the Six Nations, so we need to continue in that vein. We played against the South Africans in a training match as well, and we saw how combative they are. There won\u2019t be any room for easing up. Personally, my aim is just to be well-prepared for the tournament and to earn some caps.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n While she is more and more a key member of the France squad, Arbey insists she is still \u201cbuilding\u201d herself, with the help of senior teammates such as Pauline Bourdon-Sansus and Charlotte Escudero. \u201cThey\u2019re amazing, they really support me a lot. My status in the squad might have changed in the sense that I\u2019m more integrated in the team, but I\u2019m still just focused on improving my performances.\u201d<\/p>\n In Mont-de-Marsan, the 20-year-old will earn her sixth senior cap against an increasingly familiar opponent. While some of the more seasoned Bleues have downplayed the importance of a potential win, Arbey has struck a more combative, confident tone: \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about a warm-up match here. We have to leave our mark on them and give it our all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s far from a friendly\u2019: England enter hostile territory<\/p>\n The Stade Andr\u00e9-et-Guy-Boniface, named for the brothers who shone for Les Bleus and led resident club Stade Montois to their only national title in 1963, is gearing up to host its first senior international Test. With over 7,000 tickets sold (higher than the Pro D2 side\u2019s average attendance), locals of the south-western town, deep in France\u2019s rugby heartland, will be turning up in their numbers under scorching temperatures.<\/p>\n While England coach, John Mitchell, will be prioritising performance over result on the trip to the Landes, extending a 15-match winning streak over his team\u2019s strongest continental challengers would be the ideal way to cap off the lengthy World Cup preparations. After a demolition of Spain last Saturday, in which the Red Roses\u2019 points tally fell just shy of a century, the blockbuster clash with France will invariably make for a sterner test.<\/p>\n Mitchell has made 11 changes to the side that dismantled Las Leonas, with the absentees including -Marlie Packer through suspension and Emily -Scarratt due to a head injury. The -former captain is expected to return for the tournament opener against the US in Sunderland on 22 August, once her one-match ban for a -dismissal against Spain has been served.<\/p>\n The lineup is not short of star names, though, with reigning World player of the year, Ellie -Kildunne, -indisputably the face of the -tournament, making her return from injury. The full-back will be -taking to the field for the first time in four months, with Les Bleues -having been spared from her try-scoring exploits in the Six Nations decider in April. The -captain, Zoe Aldcroft, is also back in the team at flanker, while Zoe -Harrison will hope to strengthen her claim as England\u2019s starting fly-half.<\/p>\n Scheduling just the one warm-up match, against the top-ranked side in the world no less, does seem to be an ambitious approach for France. \u201cIn our minds, both for the coaching staff and the players, we\u2019re ready to evaluate -ourselves,\u201d co-head coach Ga\u00eblle Mignot said on Thursday. \u201cThere\u2019s no better -opponent in terms of figuring out what we still need to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the Red Roses\u2019 dominance on the continental stage over the last few years, Le Crunch has lost none of its bite. \u201cIt\u2019s far from a friendly,\u201d France winger Marine M\u00e9nager said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of defeats to -England, but if we want to progress, we\u2019ll need to stop thinking about it all the time. Let\u2019s see if we manage to compete with then.\u201d<\/p>\n The squad picked to take to the field in Mont-de-Marsan resembles the one that nearly turned the match around at Twickenham in April, led by the co-captains Mana\u00e9 Feleu and M\u00e9nager. Pauline Bourdon Sansus is serving two-match suspension for her critical comments on the -refereeing of the French domestic final that her Toulouse team lost to Stade Bordelais, with Alexandra Chambon stepping up in her place.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that England began their training camp before us, they\u2019re a well established team,\u201d said flanker Teani Feleu earlier in the week. \u201cIt\u2019ll also be a chance for them to see where they are with their preparations.\u201d<\/p>\n If all goes to plan, the cross–Channel rivals will meet again in -Bristol in five weeks for a World Cup semi-final \u2013 a hurdle France have never cleared in eight attempts since 1991.<\/p>\n Breaking the losing streak against the cross-Channel rivals tonight would go a long way towards -making that -potential obstacle somewhat less daunting.<\/p>\n It is an entirely different kind of pressure for the Red Roses, who will look to cap off their golden age with a second World Cup title, this time on home soil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kelly Arbey has made a habit of scoring against England. 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