England Women continued their unbeaten run against France in their mid-season international on Saturday, with a strong team performance which saw a final result of 4-38.
The women played their first international fixture of the year and travelled to Stade Ernest-Wallon, the home of Toulouse Olympique, as part of their preparations for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup this autumn.
After a shaky start, which saw France take the lead through two converted penalties, England quickly found their feet, as Ellise Derbyshire, on debut, received a pass out wide to score England’s first points of the match.
It was then a series of tries in quick succession for Stuart Barrow’s side, as Lucy Murray touched down twice, before Ella Donnelly also crossed for his first ever try in an England shirt.
England continued to dominate, and this time it was through the current Woman of Steel, Eva Hunter, who produced a rampaging run to evade numerous French defenders.
This took the half-time scores to 4-28, with Izzy Rowe converting four out of a possible five goals in the opening forty.
England picked up from where they left off as playmaker Jenna Foubister produced some splendid show and go to dance her way over the try line, before Derbyshire went over for a second.
The girls managed to keep their opponents tryless for the full 80 minutes, whilst crossing for a total of seven tries.
Tries: Derbyshire (x2), Murray (x2), Donnelly, Hunter, Foubister
Goals: Rowe (5/7)
Half-time: 4-28
Full-time: 4-38
