Women's Six Nations 2026: England seal Grand Slam decider against France to claim eighth consecutive title

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England emphatically overcame France 43-28 in Bordeaux on Sunday to claim their record-extending 22nd Women's Six Nations title, as well as a fifth consecutive Grand Slam.

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Sarah Bern, Jess Breach, Amy Cokayne and Ellie Kildunne all scored tries for the world champions, as John Mitchell's resilient side held off a second-half fightback from the French in front of more than 35,000 spectators.

France dominated the contest early on in a worrying start for The Red Roses, as Pauline Bourdon Sansus gave the hosts a deserved lead.

Tries from Bern, Breach and a double from Kildunne saw England hit back at Stade Atlantique to gain control at half-time, leading 26-7.

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Anais Grando and a second try from Bourdon had the hosts firmly back in the contest, before replies from Breach and Cokayne helped the momentum shift back into the visitors' favour heading for the final stages.

Rose Bernadou scored late on for France, but it was not enough as England held on to claim a historic victory.

The win extends England's unbeaten Test match run to 38 games. Their last defeat came in the 2022 World Cup final against New Zealand.

It is also England's eighth successive Six Nations triumph, having dominated the tournament since 2019.

"It's been a mad couple of weeks," England captain Meg Jones told BBC Sport.

"We've adapted so well as a team. We've faced so much adversity. The group is so resilient. We asked for a good defensive set because everyone was doubting it. We fronted up and showed what England is about. I'm super proud of the girls - a special, special group.

"The calibre of players we have we shouldn't have doubted - we didn't. Maybe we let outside noise creep in. We wanted to raise the floor and we did that in abundance.

"I'm shattered. I've got some time off now but it's about doing 80 mins and showing up and that's all I do."

Ireland thrash Scotland, Wales lose again

History was made in the clash between Ireland and Scotland with an attendance of 31,294 at the Aviva Stadium - the largest recorded at a women's match in Ireland.

The home side reigned supreme to secure a third-placed finish, defeating Sione Fukofuka's side 54-5 for their third win of the campaign.

Six different players went over the line for the dominant Ireland without reply from Scotland.

Cliodhna Moloney, Robyn O'Connor, Brittany Hogan, Erin King, Aoife Wafer (2) and Stacey Flood all got themselves on the scoresheet.

Scotland finally found a try deep into added time, when Aicha Sutcliffe - who made her Six Nations debut earlier in the tournament - scored a consolation.

In Sunday's only other fixture, Wales lost 43-24 to Italy to earn another Wooden Spoon - their third in a row after finishing bottom of the table.

Despite the score being level at half-time, with the contest finely balanced, Sean Lynn's side were condemned to their ninth successive Test defeat.

Italy ran riot in the second half to take the game away from Wales, as the hosts' victory earned them a fourth-place finish.

Wales boss Lynn has won just one of his 15 Tests in charge.

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