Rugby World Cup

England held firm in the face of a late surge to claim a 13-7 victory over France and extend their remarkable winning streak to 27.

A 10-0 half-time advantage may not have been huge but in the context of a rugged encounter it felt handy. With the pre-game breeze having now died down, though, England would have expected their dynamic bench to have had more of an impact than they did. Worse was to follow for the French when the outstanding No 8 Ménager went to tackle Zoe Aldcroft and was knocked out cold. Into the final 10 minutes France were still within a score and ruffling the composure of an England side who normally have opponents on toast long before the end. An absorbing, if occasionally stop-start, game might have been even trickier for England had France clung on to the ball at a couple of key moments and not lost their two best players, Laure Sansus and Romane Ménager, inside the first quarter. The Red Roses had their normal clutch of heroines, with Marlie Packer a constant thorn in French sides and Emily Scarratt scoring all her side’s points, including the 24th-minute try that gave England some much-needed breathing space.

Le Crunch arrived in Whangarei, with both England and France looking to stay unbeaten in the second week of the 2021 Rugby World Cup.

On in 66th minute. A bit of a non-starter, rarely getting her hands on the ball and having almost zero influence on the match. Dropped one ball cold with the line begging but nailed all three of her attempts on goal and stepped into the captaincy role when Hunter left the park. Made a great linebreak towards the end of the first half which got England on the front foot. Looked good when she took on the line. Knocked the ball on when England were building some pressure on attack and generally struggled to get as involved as her teammates. Rarely went backwards in the tackle – whether on attack or defence. Couldn’t take hold of the first kick-off but England eventually won themselves a scrum. Her carry game became more prominent as the game developed – even managed to get herself over the line but was stripped before she could get the ball down for the try. The lineout queen, securing all 10 of her deliveries. Knocked the ball on when the Red Roses were building phases inside the French danger zone. England held strong, however, eventually claiming a 13-7 win and securing themselves a spot in the quarter-finals with one more round of pool action still to play.

LIVE World Cup: Nanai scores on debut as Kangaroos take lead in tight clash with Fiji.

The Wallaroos could put themselves in a favourable position for the quarter-finals if they defeat Wales.

Fiji and South Africa (3:45pm) will close out the second week of the competition. READ MORE:

Canada have now secured themselves a quarter-final spot.

Italy could not score when Canada were down to 14 players, but they never gave up and they did get a second try through Elisa Giordano at the death. Hooker Emily Tuttosi, who scored a hat-trick of tries against Japan, was at it again with four minutes to go before half-time. Centre Michela Sillari missed the conversion. The five pointer was her fifth of the competition so far and when she was replaced by Gillian Boag in the 67th minute she could take a rest feeling more than happy about her contribution to this performance. [World Rugby Women’s Rankings powered by Capgemini ](https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2021/news/768804/wales-climb-world-rugby-womens-rankings-powered-by-capgemini)and Italy fifth this was always going to be a fascinating contest. [Japan](https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2021/news/768219/canada-japan-report) and Italy against [USA](https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2021/news/767959/usa).

A 22-12 victory over Italy sees Canada sitting atop their group and second in the seedings, with the prospect of a game against the US.

I think we managed the first half with the wind with us and we came back after halftime knowing that the wind would be against us. ”That will always remind me of the support of my friends and the fans. Again, it’s very tough opposition like, we saw [Japan](https://www.rugbypass.com/teams/japan/) yesterday against the USA, they are a very tough side, they were very tough in our game as well, and then coming out today against Italy. We need to use more our scrum.” Rouet explained, focusing on the set piece dominance his team displayed early on and how they segued to a more running style as the game wore on. “We know our set pieces are good, so when you have a good stuff you need to use it. So, keep the possession, do simple stuff and for the first 20 minutes of the second half I was very pleased with what I’ve seen. We are ready, but we know them, so it’s good.” [Rugby World Cup](https://www.rugbypass.com/rugby-world-cup/) and the first step is to get wins and bonus points and we managed to do that in our first two games in this pool. “It’s a Rugby World Cup game, so there’s just that much more meaning behind it.” De Goede explained as she looked forward to next weekend. “The cool thing about this trophy is the sound from the game embedded in it.” De Goede shared, after being awarded one of the tournament’s unique POTM trophies. So, there’ll be a lot of emotions behind the game and we can regulate that the best and stay compose under the pressure.” “We came here wanting to win the

The hosts will play Scotland in both teams' final group stage game next week, but have already secured a spot in the quarter-finals having earlier won 41-17 ...

But the team was dominated by New Zealand’s attack throughout, with the hosts snaring 58% of possession and carrying 773 metres of attack to Wales’ 127 metres. Fifon Lewis and Sioned Harries were the only Welsh players to make it past the try line, while one successful conversion was scored by Elinor Snowsill. The hosts will play Scotland in both teams’ final group stage game next week, but have already secured a spot in the quarter-finals having earlier won 41-17 against Australia.

Black Ferns ran in 10 tries and are now guaranteed a last eight place.

When New Zealand were back up to 14 with the clock heading into the red full-back Ruby Tui was set up by Woodman for try number 10. Try number eight came before the hour mark when replacement front-row Krystal Murray used her power to get over the line. It was not converted, but at 39-7 New Zealand were well in control. Wales thought they had scored their second try soon after when their forwards edged over the line, but Woodman somehow ripped the ball away and New Zealand stood firm. That score given away before the interval seemed to annoy New Zealand because they came out firing at the start of the second period. None of the first three tries were converted, but the Black Ferns were in full flow and try number four - for the bonus point - came just before the half hour mark through Woodman.