England are braced for a mighty scrum battle with France with the Red Roses doubling down on their set-piece strength ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-final.
The tournament favourites have not been truly tested so far at their home World Cup, winning every game by 32 points or more with their power game to the fore in a 40-8 quarter-final win over Scotland last weekend.
The intensity will ratchet up significantly on semi-final weekend, though, with France regular and fierce Women’s Six Nations foes. Though England have won their last 16 meetings with Les Bleues, they have been regularly pushed close during that run, including in a 43-42 thriller at Twickenham earlier this year.
While France are without suspended pair Manae Feleu and Axelle Berthoumieu, they are one of the few sides in the world with the forward might to match England up front.
The Red Roses insist, though, that they are ready to rise to that challenge and will not stray from using their set-piece to turn the screw with the forecast again wet for Bristol.
“When you get to the top four teams, it's more of a battle, which we really enjoy,” prop Hannah Botterman explained. “You don't go into every scrum thinking, ‘OK, we're going to get something out of this’.
“We have to really think about it, work it out. It's a good problem and a good battle to have. You can't knock off at any point. With knockout rugby, I think we saw at the weekend how important set-piece is across all the games. It's a really good battle and we enjoy coming up against packs that notoriously we don't get multiple penalties against.
“I think sometimes the area of the scrum can be overlooked in terms of we don’t get the kudos that we probably should in that area. I can’t be the best loosehead in the world if I can’t do my job properly, which ultimately is in the scrum and the tight areas of the game. These sort of battles are where you can see the best and the worst of people and I very much hope to put the best out there at the weekend.”
Botterman returns from a back injury to bolster John Mitchell’s front row in Bristol having initially feared her tournament might be over after being forced off in the win over Australia in Brighton.
A scan cleared her of a serious issue soon enough, and while she was held back from the quarter-final against Scotland, the loosehead is fit and ready to go for Saturday’s clash at Ashton Gate.
A knee injury ended the 26-year-old’s World Cup prematurely last time around, with Botterman missing the semi-final against Canada and final defeat to New Zealand.
Having expressed her desire to be regarded as the best prop in the world at the start of the tournament, she hopes to produce a statement showing on Saturday.
“I haven’t always played prop but I’ve always enjoyed being physically dominant,” Botterman explained, having moved from the centres while a teenager. “It’s an area of the game that is probably one of my stronger assets in terms of being dominant in that area. I can’t wait to hopefully have a couple of them at the weekend.
“When we, as a pack, have worked really hard on something and get the rewards against a team like France, or any team, when you’ve folded over your opposite number or gone through them, it’s a very good feeling – that can’t be explained without expletives.”
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