There’s no such thing as an easy grand slam and, in the very end, England’s turned out to be as hard-won as any of them. One point up with one minute to play after conceding a sixth try at the tail end of one of the great helter-skelter Test matches, their skipper, Zoe Aldcroft, had the smarts to lead the team in a slow march back from the posts to the middle of the pitch as the clock ran on into the red. The Red Roses were, at that point, one more mistake, one more missed tackle, one more France score away from going down to their first defeat since the last World Cup, in their final match before the next one.
Twickenham was only half full, but the crowd was as loud as double the number. And in all the tumult, it was the French who folded. Taïna Maka knocked the ball on from the restart. The whistle went, the ball was dead, and the game was won.
