Jessy Tremouliere sets sight on perfect farewell

Jessy Tremouliere has seen it all over the years but is only focused on her final game and helping France spoil England’s Twickenham party.

The 30-year-old has called time on a glittering career that has seen her win two Women’s Six Nations titles and finish third in three Rugby World Cups.

She’s now looking to end on a high as France aim to win the Grand Slam at the expense of England.

Both sides have come through unscathed thus far with England sealing the Triple Crown in Cork last week, while France maintained their excellent start with a 39-14 win over Wales where Tremouliere landed nine points of her own from the kicking-tee.

Now for the decider, which will be played in front of a women’s world record crowd of over 50,000 at HQ and a fitting curtain call for a modern great of the game.

England are the favourites as the home side and winners of the last four Championships, but Tremouliere insists her side are not looking at previous results.

She said: “We had a meeting on mental preparation, but after that we didn’t talk about the previous defeats at all, or the fact it could be the tenth defeat (in a row against England).

“We really want to focus on us, this is a new squad, the past is the past and here we are, we have a blank canvas.

“We have a project to build, and we are a group under construction, but it’s about giving 100% and then the result will be what it will be.

“The past remains in the past, it remains with previous squads – there are ten players who have left and there are players like me, I was there for those defeats, but there are girls who didn’t experience that and I want them to just go out and enjoy Twickenham in front of 50,000 people.”

The last time the Red Roses did not lift the Six Nations trophy came back in 2018, when Tremouliere inspired Les Bleues to victory with a brace of tries in one of her finest moments in a France shirt.

Now, as she nears her final Test appearance, she looks back fondly at some of her greatest memories.

“There are several amazing moments, to be honest,” she added.

“Afterwards, of course when you win titles, they remain good memories, but 2014 was a very good memory, as was the World Cup in Marcoussis which was exceptional.

“Then we also had a Championship in 2018 where I personally enjoyed it, we talked about it yesterday too and it remains a very beautiful memory.

“That’s what’s lovely about sport, that we can still talk about it ten years later, but I have to say that every year I had great memories with the group.”

England and France have enjoyed a growing rivalry over the last decade, played out across Six Nations and World Cup campaigns.

Tremouliere will look to lay a final knockout blow from the blue corner weekend, but one of her main rivals over the years, Emily Scarratt, will not be there to continue their personal duel due to injury.

She concluded: “I’m disappointed for Emily and that I won’t be able to play against her in my last match because it’s true that we have gone up against each other for almost our whole career and we have had some great battles.

“But having said that, the England team have excellent individuals on the pitch and it’s going to be an exciting game, especially as there are some amazing backs on show.”