England hold off France fightback to clinch Grand Slam in front of record crowd

SLAM SECURED: England held off France to clinch the Grand Slam. Pic: Andrew Matthews/PA

England completed the Grand Slam with a 38-33 victory over France but were saved by the bell in front of a world-record 58,498 crowd at Twickenham.

Initially rising to the occasion of setting a new highest attendance for the women’s game, surpassing the 42,579 seen for last autumn’s World Cup final in Auckland, the Red Roses ran amok to build a 33-0 interval lead.