Elisa Riffonneau, the most English of the Blues

The French hooker is playing this season in the English championship, in the Ealing Trailfinders team.

For her, the Crunch will undoubtedly have a special flavor. The hooker of the XV of France Elisa Riffonneau is the only French player to play in England, at Ealing Traiflinders, in the suburbs of London. Saturday April 27, she will meet players she knows well in the final of this Six Nations Tournament, in Bordeaux.

After five seasons at Stade Rennais rugby, Elisa Riffonneau seized an opportunity a few months ago to cross the Channel during her third year of studies at Sciences Po Rennes, which must be done abroad. “We tried to think about how I could adapt this year. Finally I said to myself, why not go to England, if I am called up with the France team it’s only an hour by plane, and that’s it. “was also an opportunity for me to confront English women on a daily basis”she explains.

A university opportunity

Head to Brunel University, in the western suburbs of London, where the academy of the Ealing Trailfinders club is based, which is having its first professional season in the championship. Since the fall, the 20-year-old has played 12 matches and 505 minutes with her club, currently sixth in the Premiership (out of nine). An experience that made him grow, particularly in terms of adaptation. “It’s another language, another culture […] At the beginning I didn’t understand all the instructions, I didn’t necessarily understand the whole game project, it came one thing leading to another”she remembers.

“I managed to tell myself that it’s just rugby, we don’t care if we speak the same language, as long as I make myself understood, I’m in space, you pass me, and that works.”

Elisa Riffonneau, hooker of the XV of France

at franceinfo: sports

On the other side of the Channel, Elisa Riffonneau plays in a championship “precursor”particularly in terms of professionalization. “All the players are under contract, even if almost three-quarters don’t make a living from that alone, but the professional contract is there […] This contract allows you to commit to the club, that the club commits to you, and we feel it throughout the group.”, she assures. EShe also rubs shoulders with internationals, such as the formidable English winger Abby Dow, second best scorer in this Tournament (5).

She can therefore try out the English game. The XV de la Rose remains the great opponent of the Blue and the reference in form and progression every year in the Six Nations Tournament. “It’s a little different from the French game, in that they like the combat phases […] I see it very well in the championship, as soon as you make a mistake, they will go into touch and they will make a maul”, she deciphers. Two years ago, the Blues were beaten by the Red Roses on the last day of the Tournament by conceding three similar tries from carried balls.

The Grand Slam in sight

Elisa Riffonneau, who is experiencing her second Tournament, was not yet present. Dn the squad in three of the first four matches this year (she just missed the trip to Scotland), she will once again take her place on the bench on Saturday for the long-awaited Crunch, a little over a year after her first selection under the blue jersey, during the 2023 edition in Ireland.

In one year, from Rennes to England via New Zealand and the WXV, the hooker made her place in the collective. “I feel better and better in terms of legitimacy, let’s say. Obviously when you arrive in a group, there is time to adapt, to get your bearings, and then the idea is to become more and more actress of the project”, she says. In England, it is notably followed by the staff of the XV of France, who “always accompanied”, “tracked by GPS”who has “watched the matches”.

Before approaching this final, she believes that the French group has gained confidence in its abilities. “I think we have reached a milestone, and it is felt on the ground, we are more liberated, we correct each other […] We feel that there is healthy competition between us, and that allows us to aim for the common goal of achieving this Grand Slam.”. And to play a bad trick on the players she meets every day in England.