Eddie Jones is giving his thoughts:
“I just wish there were fans here to see a good game, tough game and some drama at the end. We were knocked around a bit by the decisions in Wales and our emotions got the better of us. We though France would come out hard and so we had to be with them at half time and we were and got them in the second half. We have to play a faster game now and we are working on that.”
Gregory Alldritt:
“We are disappointed, but we knew it would be tough. We are playing nice rugby and we need to go back to work on Monday as we have a big name next week. Missing the Scotland game was not an issue, we have trained well this week and ultimately England were just better in the end”
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Anthony Watson is player of the match, and he’s speaking:
“The win puts the biggest smile on my face, I’m happy with my 50th cap and man of the match, but the win was the most important thing. We weren’t happy with our discipline vs Wales and we did better this week and that was satisfying. It was a great game of rugby and credit to France as well. We won’t be happy with how we started but, to come away with a win and the way we controlled it at the end we’ll be happy with.”
On balance, England marginally had the best of the game and a narrow win for the home side is the right result. France won some crucial penalties in their own 22 in the second half, but it was Eddie Jones’s men that had the nudge for much of the half.
Very surprised we didn’t see Ntamack given a chance to exert some of his influence in the last fifteen minutes.
Updated
In the final attack, France were on the 22 and in a decent position but a slight fumble gave England a knock-on advantage that they gladly and gleefully shoed into touch to bring a titanic contest to an end.
FULL TIME!
80 mins. ENGLAND HAVE WON A BRILLIANT GAME OF RUGBY
Updated
78 mins. Ben Earl thinks he’s won a crucial penalty on halfway with a jackal but the ref reverses it when the replay shows he initially had his elbows on the ground. France will have one last attack in the England half.
Deep breath everyone!
TRY! England 23 - 20 France (Maro Itoje)
77 mins. The TMO, correctly, calls it grounded and England are back in front with minutes left after Farrell adds the extras.
Updated
76 mins. England set the maul from the lineout and under a penalty advantage for collapsing the maul Maro Itoje forces over the line. Ref Brace calls it held up, no try, but has asked Joy Neville in the TMO box to have a look. This is a nail-biter for England.
Updated
74 mins. England are again into the French 22, but imprecision sees the ball lost and Dulin puts a monster boot on it under pressure to clear. But he can’t find touch and back come England and they have a penalty just inside the France half. Ford puts it in touch.
Dan Robson is on for Ben Youngs.
Updated
73 mins. England have freshened up their pack by emptying the bench and also brought on Ollie Lawrence for Henry Slade.
France have replaced Cretin with Cameron Woki
71 mins. Promising attack from England in into the France 22, but a huge French counter-ruck led by Penaud shoves Genge off the ruck and wins a penalty when and English player sticks a boot on the ball illegally.
Ellis Genge will take a ribbing for being pushed off by a winger, no doubt.
68 mins. Cyrille Baille, who has had a corker, is off for Jean-Baptiste Gros and the replacement’s first job is to hold up an England scrum following a Vakatawa knock-on.
65 mins. Elliot Daly’s first job is to turn and defend a Penaud chip over the top. He gathers it and does a great job of running 1o metres out under pressure from the France chase. He boots it clear and Brice Dulin attempts a drop goal from somewhere near Reading which unsurprisingly drops a long way short. Absolutely bonkers effort.
63 mins. England subs:
Ellis Genge for Mako Vunipola
Ben Earl for Mark Wilson
Elliot Daly for Max Malins
62 mins. Aldegheri, the new prop for France, makes an instant impact by folding Mako Vunipola and winning a penalty. Jalibert misses touch and Johnny May boots it clear and into touch way back in the France 22
60 mins. Ben Youngs snakes up the blindside and chips forward into space, but he puts it out on the full. His first real mistake of a very good game for him so far.
Updated
59 mins. Subs for France
Dorian Aldegheri for Mohamed Houas
Cyril Cazeaux for Romain Taofifenua
58 mins. The England front row celebrate after winning a penalty as Haouas twists in the scrum, but the home side lose possession soon after as Alldritt targets an isolated Cowan-Dickie at the breakdown to win a blue penalty.
PENALTY! England 16 - 20 France (Owen Farrell)
54 mins. Ollivon is penalised for playing Ewels in the air at the lineout and Farrell points at the posts, tees it up and makes no mistake.
Updated
PENALTY! England 13 - 20 France (Mathieu Jalibert)
50 mins. Maro Itoje is penalised for not rolling away bang in front of the posts, 25 metres out. Jalibert gratefully steps up and slots it to extend his team’s lead.
Updated
48 mins. England are back in the France 22 after a rapid Youngs dart from the ruck puts them on the front foot but Romain Taofifenua clamps on Mako Vunipola in the tackle and wins a crucial penalty for his team.
46 mins. Brice Dulin launches and gathers his own kick to put his team back on the attack, but as the ball comes left Charles Ollivon’s pass to Thomas is a good metre forward. Careless from the France captain.
44 mins. Ford is dictating an England attack on the 22 and Curry is carrying hard, something he’s done a lot so far. The ball comes right but it’s too lateral and France cover it and force Malins to hold on and concede a penalty.
Updated
42 mins. We open with a couple of kicks from Ben Youngs, the second of which is a garrryowen that forces a knock-on by France. England scrum just inside the blue half.
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SECOND HALF!
40 mins. George Ford drop-punts this ridiculous contest back into life.
I hope you’ve all had a breather, because the teams are on their way back out..
Well, what to say about that?
An incredible half, both teams going for it and certainly won’t be dying with the music in them. France looking creative and deadly anywhere near the England 22, while the home side look powerful, direct and pretty smart in possession themselves.
Hard to know what’s to come, and it feels like the introduction of Ntamack will have big impact on the game. This, in essence, is the key difference on the benches as France have a genuine world-class playmaker to come on fresh at some point.
HALF TIME! England 13 - 17 France
40 mins. France have one last dart up the right but lose the ball which allows Ford to chip it out and end what was a bloody brilliant half of rugby.
39 mins. Jalibert brings the ball out from his 22 and executes an audacious double sidestep in the space of a phonebox to leave the England kick-chase for dead. A few phases later they are up to the England line after a Teddy Thomas run and it’s only a desperate jackal from Curry to win his side a penalty that kills the attack.
My word, what a game.
35 mins. France make a mess of the restart which allows England an attack in the French 22, a kick from Slade is chased in-goal by Farrell but Dulin mops it up to nullify the danger.
Updated
TRY! England 13 - 17 France (Damian Penaud)
33 mins. On first phase from off the top of the lineout Dupont runs around Fickou, regathers the ball and pops it to Jalibert who floats it off his left hand to Penaud to score in the corner. An absolute beauty.
Jalibert converts from out wide.
Updated
31 mins. Malins trundles into the line with the ball but he’s a little isolated and France latch on the win the penalty on halfway.
PENALTY! England 13 - 10 France (Mathieu Jalibert)
30 mins. The France out-half makes no mistake and that’s just reward for a decent period for the visitors.
Updated
29 mins. France work some phases in the 22 and England have given away 3 penalties in this attack, all of which are on advantage when Jalibert chases a Dupont chip which he gets to but can’t ground without punching it dead. They come back for their pick of the penalties.
27 mins. France have their first period of possession for a little while and they use it to get into England’s half via a strong Fickou carry before a Jalibert angled kick forces Youngs to box-kick away. All this does is bring Les Bleus back at the home team.
Updated
25 mins. France are simply being overpowered by England at present, both in terms of sheer muscularity in the carry and then in the pace at which they recycle the ball. A small break in play while a scrum sets will give the visitors a welcome moment to reset and when it finally forms Mako Vunipola is penalised for collapsing.
22 mins. France win the lineout, but Dupont is slow with the kick to clear allowing Curry to charge it down and Wilson to get down on the ball, but a little knock on will see France have a scrum.
20 mins. What a game this is so far, and crucially England appear to have solved their discipline problem. Ben Youngs again pins France back for a tricky lineout in their own 22.
PENALTY! England 13 - 7 France (Owen Farrell)
19 mins. Three more points to England from their captain’s boot.
18 mins. Watson takes the ball on halfway, cuts inside, straightens up and finds himself free and running onto the fullback. He chips over the top but loses the foot race to the covering Jalibert, who ships it to Penaud to clear. This invites England to come back at them and the home team have another kickable penalty.
17 mins. A break from Marchand sees the hooker show some rapid pace to go thirty metres into the France 22. It looks dangerous but Alldritt can’t get the timing right to receive a pass and knocks it on.
PENALTY! England 10 - 7 France (Owen Farrell)
15 mins. And just like that, England are in front.
Updated
13 mins. France’s response is to overwork the ball in attack, trying to force passes that are too clever and so end up being entirely stupid. Ford pins them back in their own 22 from the boot and England have a penalty for in at the side.
This is a ferocious response from England to the early shock.
Updated
TRY! England 7 - 7 France (Anthony Watson)
11 mins. This has been coming as it’s been all England since France’s try. Henry Slade carries through the tackle line and up to within five metres for George Ford to fizz the ball right for a Watson walk in.
Farrell adds the extras from wide right.
Game. On.
Updated
7 mins. From the scrum five England get a push on before going left allowing Billy Vunipola and Sinckler to punch up to the French line. The ball comes right but the pass to Watson from Malins is wild and into touch.
5 mins. England’s first possession proper is a very promising, ten-plus phases of solid running from deep and quick recycling seeing them go left and right to bring themselves up to within feet of the French line. Mark Wilson has the last drive over the line but he’s held up by Gael Fickou.
Updated
TRY! England 0 - 7 France (Antoine Dupont)
3 mins. Brice Dulin fields the first big kick from Ben Youngs to put the visitors on the attack and they’ve up to six phases working it left and right. Teddy Thomas chips it over the top and Dupont is first to it and scores after a little bit of a juggle under pressure.
Jalibert converts. What a start for Les Bleus!
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KICK OFF
1 min. Peeeeeep! we’re underway
The teams are taking the field. The pitch looks in lovely nick, it’s a dry early spring day and it’s all set up to be a great contest.
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Tim Joyce emails:
“I’m going to suggest that France will find this ‘solid, talented and experienced England outfit’ to be largely predictable in what they do, cheering us with moments of pure talent when the ball is actually passed to the playmakers, but overall let down by sloppy errors and again giving away too many penalties. I hope I’m wrong.”
Pre match reading...
Ugo Monye likes the cut of Max Malins’ jib and I agree with him. See if you feel the same by having a read.
What are your thoughts on how this will go? Can England stem the penalty tide? Does anyone actually think Galthie’s glasses are decent? All this and more can be sent my way by email or on Twitter
Teams
Eddie Jones has finally given Max Malins the start his form and class warrant at fullback, replacing the too long misfiring Elliot Daly who moves to the bench for an otherwise unchanged backline. In the forwards, Luke Cowan-Dickie’s abrasive energy and try-scoring record is preferred to Jamie George and Charlie Ewels starts at lock, replacing Jonny Hill. The Bath man’s steady power appears more appealing to Jones early in the match than Jonny Hill’s sometimes unpredictable temperament.
Jones has this week gone for three backs on the bench, featuring the return of Ollie Lawrence.
It appears that long Covid is not a worry for France as a largely first choice team emerges from their period of isolation. Virimi Vakatawa is back at centre, with Teddy Thomas ad the classy Damian Penaud on the wings. Much of the game with depend on how those two handle the peppering they will receive from England’s kicking game. In that regard, you have to say France will miss the injured Gabin Villière.
Romain Taofifenua comes in for the injured Bernard le Roux in the pack, while Dylan Cretin starts in the back row.
Keep your eyes on the France bench as Romain Ntamack, their insouciant superstar of 2020 alongside Dupont, will make his return at some point in the game.
England: Max Malins; Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Owen Farrell (captain), Jonny May; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Charlie Ewels, Mark Wilson, Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Jamie George, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Jonny Hill, Ben Earl, Dan Robson, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly.
France: Brice Dulin; Teddy Thomas, Virimi Vakatawa, Gael Fickou, Damian Penaud; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas, Romain Taofifenua, Paul Willemse, Dylan Cretin, Charles Ollivon (captain), Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements: Camille Chat, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Dorian Aldegheri, Cyril Cazeaux, Cameron Woki, Anthony Jelonch, Baptiste Serin, Romain Ntamack.
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Preamble
It’s Saturday, it’s the Six Nations, it’s Twickenham, it’s Le Crunch and this is our live coverage. Hello and welcome.
Eddie Jones and Fabien Galthie arrive in south west London today with worries. Differing worries, but worries nonetheless.
Jones is troubled that his team are like a penalty vending machine for which thus far his opposition appear to have a plentiful supply of tokens. For all the marked improvement with the ball vs Wales no team can hope to consistently win giving away an average of 13 penalties a match as England have done in this tournament. Refs Wayne Barnes and Matthew Carley have been in camp to try and solve it and whatever impact they have made on the squad will be key to the result.
Galthie has other things on his mind. Is my squad undercooked after a COVID layoff? (Possibly). Do the players all hate me after Bernard Laporte blamed them not me for this whole COVID thing? (Likely). Are these glasses too much? (Absolutely). But, more than anything, he will be ruminating on whether this developing squad packed with quality can replicate last year’s win over what remains a solid, talented and experienced England outfit.
At least Galthie can relax a little knowing a loss here will not herald a gathering miasma of crisis around his squad. Jones does not have any such succour.
