Emily taking pool lessons on board for French test
Semi-final Preview
ENGLAND might have beaten France twice already this season but superstar centre Emily Scarratt is expecting to face a different beast when the two meet in the World Cup semi-finals in Belfast on Tuesday.
England emerged victors in last year’s autumn fixture and the Six Nations encounter but only by a score each time despite home advantage. The Red Roses built on their 10-5 success in November with a comeback 26-13 victory at Twickenham last February, having trailed 13-0.
So although Scarratt and her teammates have cruised through the pool stage over the past week, with bonus-point wins over Spain, Italy and the USA, so did France.
And their sublime first half perfromance against Ireland on Wednesday has made them into real title contenders.
“France have gone really well so far and they’re looking like a different beast than they were back in the autumn or Six Nations,” Scarratt told TRP.
“They’ve improved in many areas of their game so we know a really tough game awaits. They’ve always had some amazing players over the years and they seem to have put it all together in this tournament so far.
“We have improved throughout the pool stages with each team providing different challenges. We were able to answer most of them but even so there is always things to improve.
“This game against France is all about putting together all the things we’ve learnt so far and geting it right to reach the final.
“It’s a knock out game so we’ve got to make sure we play for the full 80 minutes unlike we did against the USA who managed to score tries in the second half.”
Thursday’s game marked a career milestone for Scarratt who became the highest points scorer in England women’s history.
She scored a try and landed four conversions to take her Test tally to 414 points and overtake fly-half team-mate Katy McLean.
She added: “I didn’t actually know I got the record but it’s quite a cool achievement. We’re at that stage where whether I score a try or Katie does we’ll keep overtaking each other.
“I don’t know if she’s aware yet but maybe she’ll ask to get the kicking duties back when she hears!”