Rugby. Repeating gives me a headache: Alexandra Chambon and her memories of France

2022 (6 Nations): France – England in Bayonne (12-24)

“Even though I didn’t play much, it felt like there was the same rivalry in a France – England game: it’s a Crunch. It was really special in the atmosphere. Also, being in Bayonne, on a very rugby land, the stadium was really hot. I also remember some key moments. We managed to score something we had worked on in training, a special play, with a try from Romane Ménager. After that, we conceded one or two tries from kicks. It cost us dearly in the end. We finished 12 points behind, but we weren’t completely out of it.”

2024 (6 Nations): France – England in Bordeaux (21-42)

“We didn’t really exist in the game. We scored two nice tries, one first-hand and another by Gaby (Vernier). Nice tries, but in the end, I don’t remember if at any point in the game we were close on the scoreboard. A turning point was when we had an interception that led to a try. It hurt us a lot. But I’m not sure if we could have kept up with the score… This match was tough. We made a few small mistakes and it cost us dearly straight away. That’s what happens against top 3 world teams.”

2025 (6 Nations): England – France in Twickenham (43-42)

“What’s tough about this game is that we lived a similar scenario two years before, in our first match at Twickenham (38-33), where we went into halftime with a thirty-point difference before coming back and finishing only five points behind. So it’s more the repetition that hurts. To think that we always finish so close. There, we got the machine going, maybe too late, but still. We were on our way to win… and finish one point behind, it was even harder than two years before… For sure, we know we should never give up against them, even when we’re trailing by a lot, because we have the resources to come back.”

2025 (World Cup, semi-final): England – France in Bristol (35-17)

“We’re coming from a thrilling quarter-final against Ireland (18-13), where we were really scared and not very good, to be honest. We face the English and treat it like a final because we’ve never reached the semi-finals before. Unlike other times, we go into halftime with a very close score (7-5). We think the scenario is different… That’s what’s always exciting: the scenarios are always different. But these are 80-minute matches and the goal is not just to hold on for a half.”