\u201cThe rest of the team do the work, it was insane,\u201d Kildunne, the player of the match, told the BBC. \u201cI am buzzing, it is all we have been dreaming of, we will keep our heads down, we know what is coming and you\u2019re all going to be excited to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Have not won anything\u2019<\/p>\n
But England prop Hannah Botterman, returning from a back spasm, warned that Canada would pose a stern challenge, saying: \u201cThey have been playing very good rugby, a different style… No celebrations (tonight) — we have not won anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
England, unbeaten since an agonising 2022 World Cup final loss, were just 7-5 ahead at half-time after a try by Kildunne was converted by Zoe Harrison — who added the extras to all of the hosts\u2019 scores — before outside centre Nassira Konde went over for France.<\/p>\n
But as the sun broke through at an initially rainswept Ashton Gate in southwest England, Amy Cokayne added another try for the hosts early in the second half before France wing Kelly Arbey\u2019s converted effort cut the Red Roses\u2019 lead to just two points.<\/p>\n
But Abbie Ward\u2019s try gave England a two score-advantage at 21-12 heading into the final quarter.<\/p>\n
Kildunne then put the result beyond doubt 11 minutes from time with a blistering cross-field run from just inside the France half as she eluded several defenders on the way to a superb solo try.<\/p>\n
Konde grabbed her second try of the match before centre Megan Jones scored England\u2019s fifth a minute from time.<\/p>\n
Victory meant England extended their own world record to 32 consecutive wins, with this success their 17th victory in a row over France, who have now lost all nine of their Women\u2019s World Cup semi-finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey played much better than us in the second half,\u201d acknowledged French centre Gabrielle Vernier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very disappointed, we were waiting three years for this moment,\u201d she said, adding that \u201cwe weren\u2019t able to impose ourselves physically and mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Tried and tested maul –<\/p>\n
Les Bleues kicked-off without the suspended pair of co-captain Manae Feleu and Axelle Berthoumieu, and the injured duo of fly-half Lina Queyroi (concussion) and Joanna Grisez (thigh), with the wing having scored the decisive try in France\u2019s thrilling 18-13 quarter-final win over Ireland.<\/p>\n
Kildunne opened the scoring with a typically dashing try in the fifth minute, surging past Konde before selling a huge dummy to Arbey.<\/p>\n
France, however, dominated territory and possession for the remainder of the first half.<\/p>\n
Their forwards laid siege to England\u2019s line, and with the defence sucked in, the ball was spun wide to Konde for a 24th-minute try that Morgane Bourgeois could not convert.<\/p>\n
France harried England into several uncharacteristic knock-ons that could only partly be explained by a wet ball.<\/p>\n
England returned to their tried and tested driving maul, with hooker Cokayne pushed over for a 46th-minute try.<\/p>\n
France responded through a 52nd minute try out wide on the left from Arbey, before full-back Bourgeois landed a tough conversion.<\/p>\n
But England, with coach John Mitchell ringing the changes, pulled further clear with second-row Ward powering over for a try just shy of the hour mark.<\/p>\n
Harrison converted and England had breathing space at 21-12.<\/p>\n
Kildunne\u2019s individual brilliance put the result beyond doubt before Jones wrapped up victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe rest of the team do the work, it was insane,\u201d Kildunne, the player of the match, told…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[148741,381,943,148738,9355,148735,393,2000,299,26660,105903,12182,36,21003,148734,148736,148737,34992,8639,26335,4151,21029,61981,148740,17289,6093,12050,148739,6095,20296,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-439379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-148741","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-concussion","12":"tag-cup","13":"tag-ellie","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-eu","16":"tag-europe","17":"tag-face","18":"tag-favourites","19":"tag-final","20":"tag-france","21":"tag-from","22":"tag-hosts","23":"tag-kildunne","24":"tag-marked","25":"tag-reach","26":"tag-result","27":"tag-return","28":"tag-rugby","29":"tag-saturday","30":"tag-semifinal","31":"tag-spirited","32":"tag-their","33":"tag-to","34":"tag-tournament","35":"tag-tries","36":"tag-with","37":"tag-womens","38":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115238641515800728","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}