A world record crowd saw England claim a fourth Women's Six Nations grand slam in five years with victory over France.

The game at Twickenham, the first time the ladies have headlined HQ, was watched by 58,498.

And they saw the Red Roses triumph 38-33, having led at the interval 33-0.

They scored six tries in total with former Welwyn Rugby Club junior Helena Rowland kicking three conversions.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Former Welwyn junior Helena Rowland kicks a conversion for England in front of a full Twickenham. Picture: ANDREW MATTHEWS/PAFormer Welwyn junior Helena Rowland kicks a conversion for England in front of a full Twickenham. Picture: ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA)

It brought to the end the reign of head coach Simon Middleton who is stepping down after eight years at the helm.

He said: "You want a good performance from your team because you know it will be at the root of the result.

"But ultimately when you get to a final day like this you have to find a way to win.

"We won with some fantastic rugby but full credit to France. They were absolutely exceptional with the character they showed and the rugby they played."

And he was quick to acknowledge the scale and importance of the game.

He said: "We drove through Twickenham on the way in and you could just sense the excitement.

"We got to the stadium to thousands of people waiting for us and you just think to yourself 'this is a stage, this is where the game needs to be'.

"We've had some great successes and we've had some failures [in my time as head coach] and that's sport.

"But when you look around the stadium to see 58,498 people you can just feel the energy. I couldn't be prouder and it's not a bad place to step out."