France score shock win in San Diego Super Series
The Black Ferns have suffered a shock loss to France in their Super Series clash in San Diego this morning.
For just the second time, France managed to claim victory over the Ferns, triumphing 25-16 despite having three players sent to the sinbin.
In one of their sloppiest showings, the Black Ferns couldn't produce a similar performance to the ones that had seen them claim victories over Canada (35-20) and the USA (33-0), being well beaten by the World No 3 side.
France are clearly a team on the rise, and despite having lost 36-19 to Canada earlier in the tournament, showed why they had toppled the Black Ferns 30-27 last year.
France had made eight changes after their defeat to Canada, and raced out to a 15-0 lead after just 17 minutes thanks to some nifty footwork from Caroline Boujard and some sloppy defence from the Black Ferns, as well as a bit of luck – dotting down after a penalty attempt hit the posts, with Maelle Filopon quickest to react.
A remarkable refereeing decision was to follow, with the TMO correctly overruling a yellow card decision against the French in a rare sinbin reversal, as France held an 18-6 lead at the break.
A superb counter-attacking try finished by Jessy Tremouliere, after Cocksedge failed to find touch with a penalty, made it 25-9, and although a rash of yellow cards saw France finish with 13 women, the only way the Black Ferns could score was through a penalty try, and that merely reduced the deficit to a non-historic margin.
The Black Ferns next have a bye in the Super Series, before they finish the competition against England next Monday.
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.
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So sad, god rest him. Too young to be gone. RIP
Go to commentsThe GB coach. “Just because we don’t get together as much as other teams we don’t use that as an excuse for performances when we don’t hit the mark”. Why mention it at all then?
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