Forlani eagar to prove her worth

FRANCE are desperate to shake their runners-up tag but will have to contend with losing a wealth of experience.

Les Bleues have finished second for three years running and head into the competition with a raft of changes on and off the pitch.

Gaelle Mignot and David Ortiz have taken over as dual head coaches following France’s thirdplace finish at the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Laure Sansus, who won player of the Six Nations in 2022, Safi N’Diaye, Marjorie Mayans and Celine Ferer all hung up their boots while prominent second rower Madoussou Fall was ruled out of the tournament through injury.

Alongside the coaching changes, France will have a new captain in Audrey Forlani who was controversially left out of the World Cup squad.

She said: “It wasn’t easy not being picked but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I have worked really hard - and I think that being named captain is an achievement I can be really proud of. I want to show that with work and self-sacrifice, we can achieve beautiful things.”

For Mignot, the aim is to simply take the approach of one game at a time. “The goal for the Championship will be to put the foundations in place for our game plan and to improve game on game,” she said.

“We will need to be in the best possible shape by the time we get to the final game against England at Twickenham.”

Another storyline for the French is that this will be Jessy Tremouliere’s final tournament. The Women’s 15s Player of the Decade recently announced she will be retiring following the 2023 campaign and wants to finish on a high.

She said: “I want to play with freedom, to have fun and to make the most of this final Championship. I want to finish with no regrets.”

SQUAD

FORWARDS: Annery, Bernadou, Berthoumieu, Champon, Deshaye, Domain, Escudero, Feleu, Forlani (c), Gros, Hermet, Joyeux, Khalfaoui, Lindelauf, Ménager, Mwayembe, Picut, Riffoneau, Sochat, Sylla

BACKS: Arbez, Banet, Boujard, Boulard, Bourdon, Bourgeois, Chambon, Duces, Dupouy, Filopon, Graciet, Levy, Llorens, Ménager, Trémoulière, Vernier