England clinched their seventh successive Women's Six Nations title and fourth Grand Slam with a 43-42 win against a spirited France side on Saturday.
John Mitchell's side saw off a remarkable second half performance from France, who found themselves 31-7 at one point after a England's five-try first half courtesy of Abby Dow, Emma Sing (2), Lark Atkin-Davies and Claudia MacDonald.
France cut the deficit to 10 points going into the break before England captain Zoe Aldcroft restored their advantage early into the second half. Kelly Arbey's try kept the pressure up before Dow and Morgane Bourgeois scored in quick succession to set up a nervy finish in front of the 37,000-plus crowd at Twickenham
France scored a further two tries in the last eight minutes but England held on to extend their winning streak to 25 games and keep up momentum going into a home World Cup later this year.
"I am so proud of all of the girls' effort, we battled it out today. France came at us so all credit to us for holding on," Aldcroft told BBC post-match.
"When we build pressure we need to keep our foot on the throttle. We will have a couple of drinks after this and enjoy tonight!"
