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Wednesday March 17, 2010
Issued by Julia Hutton




With the final round of the RBS 6 Nations championship this weekend and one last hurdle for England to overcome, England Women's skipper Catherine Spencer has urged her team to produce their best performance of the season.

England are on course to secure a fifth successive and record breaking Six Nations crown, and the all important Grand Slam, and their challenge awaits them on Friday night at the Stade Velodrome in Rennes, kick off 7pm GMT.

"As we head towards the France game we are exactly where we want to be in the table, and we are coming off the back of an impressive win against Scotland," said Spencer, whose side have conceded just five points in the Six Nations this season.

"However, playing France in France is always a tough encounter. France have been playing some great rugby in the tournament and are close on our heels in the table having only lost just one game; like us they have everything to play for.

"It's vitally important to us that we play with control and composure throughout the full 80 minutes. The French always come out in full force to support their international team and that creates an atmosphere which is unique to this part of the world. If the crowd falls silent we know we are doing our job on the pitch."

Friday's game will be England's last international before the Women's Rugby World Cup kicks off on August 20th at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, with the semi-finals and the finals being held at the Twickenham Stoop in September.

England are ranked second for that tournament and a Grand Slam victory ahead of the world cup would match the efforts of England Men in 2003 which then saw them go on to achieve world cup glory. Spencer, however, insists it must be one step at a time for her England team.

She added: "With the next big tournament for us being the World Cup in August and the fact that victory on Friday will bring us the Grand Slam, it makes this an even bigger game. However, we will only allow that to enter out thoughts following the final whistle. As players we have complete clarity in our minds as to what our target is in the run up to this game. We want to beat France in Rennes on Friday night. At this moment in time nothing else matters."