Brute force: Manu Tuilagi
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England sidestepped their latest challenge on their way to a Grand Slam with a punishing 23-13 victory over France at Twickenham.
France were transformed from the sluggish side that were abysmal against Wales a fortnight ago - aggressive at the breakdown and benefiting from moving Wesley Fofana back into the centre after his ill-fated stint on the wing.
England were more clinical in the second-half and gained the lead thanks to a fortuitous try from Tuilagi, who enjoyed an excellent afternoon against his French counterpart Mathieu Bastareaud.
A brutally physical clash worth of its affectionate title, saw frequent crunching tackles whilst the scrum was a contest initially dominated by France, before England gained parity as the match progressed.
It was far from the greatest performance under Stuart Lancaster, but a crucial result that leaves England with Italy and Wales in their path on the way to a first Grand Slam since 2003.
Farrell opened the scoring for England after just two minutes following an infringement from Thierry Dusautoir at the breakdown.
France were unable to exploit a three-man overlap on the outside when Bastareaud knocked on, but with advantage being played Morgan Parra opened his account with a penalty from 39 metres out.
The visitors grabbed the initiative in the scrum to force England into conceding two consecutive penalties, with France benefiting from a smoother surface than the pot-holed Stade de France from a fortnight ago against Wales.
Both sides struggled to convert large periods of possession in attack - conceding penalties when faced by a physical backlash from the opposition at the breakdown.
An attacking line-out created the base for a promising English attack after Manu Tuilagi burst through the midfield, only for Farrell's chip across for Chris Ashton to go too deep. Farrell converted England's penalty advantage however to make the score 6-3 after 27 minutes.
Fofana then broke through several English tackles down the left flank to score the game's opening try, Ashton's tap tackle unable to bring the Clermont centre down as he crossed in the left-hand corner, with Parra converting.
Farrell hit back with a penalty to cut the deficit to one point with five minutes left before half-time, before Parra attempted to respond with a penalty of his own at the end of the half from long-range which fell wide to the left.
France showed no let-up in the scrum at the beginning of the second half, forcing the penalty, but Parra was unable to convert.
A punishing maul from England then handed Farrell the chance to regain the lead, with the Saracen again successful to move England 12-10 ahead.
England then furthered their lead thanks to Tuilagi, the Leicester centre snatching up a loose ball at the back of the French ruck to canter into the corner.
France struck back with a penalty immediately from the restart, substitute Frederic Michalak coming on to convert and leave the score at 17-13. More strict officiating at the breakdown from referee Craig Joubert handed England an opportunity to add more points, Farrell lining up a 48 metre attempt which fell low to the left.
A burst up the left from Picamoles had England scrambling, before Michalak failed to take a low pass having begun the passage of play with a perfect chip over the top of the English defence.
Another brilliant surge from Tuilagi left Bastareaud flat on his back in midfield, setting up a grubber kick for Toby Flood behind the French defence which was well fielded by Vincent Clerc.
England though were in the ascendency at the breakdown, with Michalak penalised to allow Toby Flood the easiest of opportunities to stretch the home side's lead. He made no mistake - sending England into a 20-13 lead with seven minutes remaining.
Another error at the breakdown handed Flood a further three points to give England a solid cushion heading into the closing minutes.
The home side's defence held despite a late French surge, confirming their victory on a bitterly cold night at Twickenham and condemning France to one of their worst starts to a Six Nations ever.
Man of the Match: Despite the presence of Tuilagi, Tom Wood was outstanding for England from the base of the scrum.
Moment of the Match: With a lucky break needed, Manu Tuilagi could scarcely believe his luck as he picked up a loose ball and scored England's first try.
Villain of the Match: Not the greatest of substitute appearances for Frederic Michalak, whose little errors gave up key points in the second half.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Tuilagi
Pens: Farrell 4, Flood 2
Yellow Card: Cole
For France:
Tries: Fofana
Cons: Parra
Pens: Parra, Michalak
The teams:
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.
France: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Jocelino Suta, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Florian Fritz.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
by Ben Coles
@bencoles_
Comments
new_j4a says...
@lacroix this is priceless:
"-providing 'evidence' to support an opinion about a referee by citing the IRB and SARRA is a bit like saying one can prove a particular model of car is unimpeachably brilliant because its manufacturer says it is. "
So what game are you playing/watching and who is the authority? I rest my case. You have just proved beyond a shadow of doubt that you are an IDIOT!
The editor says.... new_j4a: How many times must we go over this? Stop the insults or you will be banned.
Posted 10:52 05th March 2013
new_j4a says...
@lacroix, Here's your problem
Law 6.A.4 THE DUTIES OF THE REFEREE IN THE PLAYING ENCLOSURE
(a) The referee is the sole judge of fact and of Law during a match.
If you don't agree with this, then I suggest you invent another game....call it "frogby" and go and play it out of my sight. (I predict that France will always be FWC Champions, which will be nice for you?)
Posted 10:26 05th March 2013
new_j4a says...
@lacroix, when somebody calls you 4 idiots, it isn't an insult.....just a statement of fact.
Please point out where I said joubert "performed brilliantly in this match (and always does)" I said that there were errors made as there always are in rugby, but these went both ways and were sometimes caused by the ref being unsighted.
What I did say was that Joubert's performance in the RWC was almost flawless....as it was. You should go back to Chopin and table manners where you have some expertise. Rugby is beyond you.
Posted 10:05 05th March 2013
lacroix says...
so to sum up new J4a's 'argument' is as follows:
-craig joubert, contrary to widespread views in the media, performed brilliantly in this match (and always does)
-anyone who disagrees with that view is (caps lock on) AN IDIOT
-newJ4a is right because, er, newJ4a says so.
-anyone who says otherwise is AN IDIOT
-thats all.
its all rather feeble.
two things:
- just because one says something is so doesn't mean it necessarily is. even if you put the caps lock on.
-providing 'evidence' to support an opinion about a referee by citing the IRB and SARRA is a bit like saying one can prove a particular model of car is unimpeachably brilliant because its manufacturer says it is.
and then newJ4a further discredits his already discredited 'arguments' by indulging in puerile insults .
ironically when he does make actual comments about the game he is as inconsistent as joubert was in this match.
cue the usual gibbers and ravings.
Posted 09:27 05th March 2013
new_j4a says...
@jonthewannabe, who says "yet not when other refs are". Go back and actually read my posts....I point out foxrot's unfair criticisms of 3 other refs....your powers of observation are again letting you down. Does being thick and biased affect your performance reffing the Welsh minis as well?
Posted 02:22 05th March 2013
new_j4a says...
@jonthe"ref?",As to the Fritz "release" and failure to heed the ref's instructions, read @lawynd's post which you have so far failed to respond to. I wonder why? Perhaps it taxes your rather limited ability to understand the game?
Posted 00:09 05th March 2013
new_j4a says...
@jonthe"ref?", I keep trying to discuss your other points but you keep dodging, perhaps because of how foolish you now look? You haven't been back to discuss your factually incorrect assertion that farrel's elbow struck parra's throat or that your bizarre claim that throwing the ball away deserves a YC, now have you? So it seems that you are guilty of exactly what you accuse me of...selective recall and response?
As for discussing other refs, I do when they are bashed by idiots. There is a question of Walsh's performance on the table at the moment but I have't seen the game yet. I am 8 time zones away from my PC where I download). Unlike you, I'd actually like to get my facts straight before giving an opinion.
As to my running battles "with so many," I count less that 10, all of them idiots who don't understand rugby yet mouth off to the detriment of the game. Of these 10, you are by far one of the better educated, but still spill a worrying amount of misinformation when England and Joubert are concerned. I think that they must bring out some deep seated sense of insecurity in you?
Posted 00:04 05th March 2013
kybone says...
jontheref- So Joubert wanted to keep the penalty count down is the reason why these hideous English infringments were not penalised. Yet you have mentioned several times how the French were wrongly penalised throughout the match- not the act of a ref trying to keep the pen count down.
Why do you keep pointing out that the trip and the so called elbow to the throat were different incidents? I think we're all quite aware of that, and its not the issue in any case.
The point that you seem to keep missing/avoiding is that the most dangerous thing about the Parra elbow incident is the precident set by Parra's own BAFTA award winning reaction. Im quite happy to agree that Farrell was stupid to get involved in anything like that but, i repeat yet again, if the incident was even half as bad as you seem to think it was, Farrell would have been cited and subsequently banned- the fact that the French didn't even make reference to it post match, let alone contact the citing commissioner, tells you everything you need to know about the seriousness of the incident. Perhaps you'll care to respond to this particular point in your next post. I won't hold my breath because it completely disproves everything you're banging on about.
Posted 21:42 04th March 2013
new_j4a says...
@jontheclairvoyant, who says " stand by my statement about Joubert not wanting to penalise for the off the ball behaviour, as he is under pressure to keep his penalty count down."
How do you know that? The same way you know that the elbow hit the throat or that throwing the ball away deserves a YC?
Posted 14:00 04th March 2013
jontheref says...
new_j4a
There is room for discussion about Fritz?
So now you admit you were wrong all along?
Don't bother to answer as it will be another set of so called answers/statements, about something not in the discussion.
Are you actually word blind to some comments and not others?
Funny how you cannot answer the comments in my previous posts?
Anyway, the way you seem to delight in making a fool of yourself, especially when dear Craig is mentioned, yet not when other refs are, tells a story about you.
Did he once smile as he passed you, and you thought life was at last worth living!
I have discussions, and disagreements with other posters, but you appear to have running battles with oh so many, does it make you feel macho?
Go forth and prosper, have a nice life.
Posted 13:59 04th March 2013
jontheref says...
kybone,
as you have obviously read other psots, it is a pity you cannot read my first post on this thread.
It is not anti English, it is stating, as many journos and England fans alike have stated.
I stand by my statement about Joubert not wanting to penalise for the off the ball behaviour, as he is under pressure to keep his penalty count down.
I agree the trip was also wrong, yet it was a different incident!
Not as premeditated or as dangerous.
If what I say, repeatedly does not get through to you, it ain't my fault!
I repeat "As I said on my first post, England had luck, and France played poorly, especially the coaching team. "
If that is anti English, call the thought police and lock me up!
Posted 12:59 04th March 2013
kybone says...
jontheref- I've never suggested that the trip justifies the Parra incident. My point is that you choose to pursue the Parra incident like a dog with a bone, yet you choose to completely ignore the trip. How convenient for you anti-English argument. England won this game because they were better for over the 80 mins. Get over it and stop looking for excuses. You've evn posted on another thread that Farrell cheated knowing that Joubert wouldn't penalise him. How could he possibly know something like that? That is simply the argument of an idiot that is running out of ideas to support his agenda filled argument.
Posted 10:16 03rd March 2013
new_j4a says...
@bimbo no response from me. Your post exposes far more than I could hope to in my wildest dreams....ZZZ
Posted 11:11 02nd March 2013
Bambo says...
new_j4a - Despite all your many many posts, your convoluted and torturous elucidations, your contradictions and changes of direction and emphasis (it was not Tuilagi who was offside for the try that should have been disallowed but Vunipola...so...Joubert is ALMOST flawless...sniffle...) I'm afraid I still find myself preferring the comments and posts of the more moderate posters. I giggle at the thought of you actually refereeing - it'd take hours of shouting, insults and innuendo before you could even progress beyond the coin toss.
Response here ----- Insult his mother. Insult his father. Caps lock on BLAH BLAH. Referee website in SA. Old enough to have fathered Joubert. I'm saving rugby. Aaaargh!! Pent up rage. Daily Mail headline. Europe! Immigrants! Others with point of view! Aaargh!! I'm right. I'm right. I'm right. I'm riiiiiig...... Must get Sanatogen Senior. Must get Sanatogen Senior......bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Posted 22:26 01st March 2013
Bambo says...
new_j4a - Ha ha! You are simply awful. An awful referee. An awful poster. An awful old man.
You seem fixated on my mum (widowed, as I've told you before) my dad (deceased, as I've told you before) and Joubert (who you have declared before as 'flawless' which, whether 'almost' or not, is a claim to purity he doesn't deserve even if you're nearly old enough to be/want to be his Dad). Does your carer know where you are?
Posted 22:00 01st March 2013
new_j4a says...
Ahhh 7 ton, you just made my day. Another voice of reason. I was about to just abandon these 4 idiots to their ignorance.
@"jon the wanna be ref" who says "England benefiting from officials mistakes." What about the benefit derived by France from the trip going unspotted....some benefit went both ways I am sure you would agree if you were a reasonable man (scant evidence of that so far on this thread....just a lot of mistaken whinging). The ref made mistakes and was unsighted for other things that we all wish were picked up (and aren't picked up except in Wales where the communication system always works and the refs are either able to see around corners or propping up some unsteady bar like yourself?)
There is room for discussion about the Fritz PK, but what about your "elbow to the throat" nonsense....are you backing off that now?
And materiality? You really should take the refresher. It makes for a much more interesting game....much less of that hanging about that your fat Welsh props are so dependent upon?
And the so called TMO jibe? It wasn't meant to be a jibe, just a statement of fact. We are all well aware that innovation is often trialled in the SH...I wonder why? Could it be that the supporters are a little better educated and the refs far superior? Nah, couldn't be that....could it?
And bimbo before you jump in again, has the reversal of fortunes meant that you feel comfortable switching back to Scotland and away from the team of your pert little girlfriend? Just making conversation of a general rugby fan nature since this is the limit of your ability to grasp the game.
Posted 13:59 01st March 2013
jontheref says...
lawynd
Quite right what you say, the original thread was about a mistake by the ref.
Fritz had released, and probably though the ref was calling to Ashton to release, as he was holding on.
This is not about a ref making a mistake 5 minutes to go, and if you read the original posting, it was about England benefiting from officials mistakes, and I'll repeat again, France were poor in coaching and tactics. If I was an England supporter, or it happened to my team, I'd accept it graciously!
new_j4a
You obviously don't understand what I wrote, aimed at you, mores the pity for you.
You ignore what you cannot deny, and resort to abuse.
You know absolutely nothing about the posters you insult. Yes, I am qualified, probably nearer to you in age that Craig Joubert, but even if I wasn't, I could analyse what I see. Something that seems to elude you.
As for not wanting to give out personal details, "as I have offended so many", you are delusional, if you think if anyof us had the misfortune to share the same air with you, we would be anything but irritated by such a bar room bore.
If you were not so pathetic, railing against almost everyone, you would be funny.
Funny how it is constructive criticism of your boy wonder that wakes you from your slumber, and unlocks your keyboard.
Also your jibe about the 6N not "allowing a TMO clarification"
This is down to the iRB to set where these trials are used.
If you remember the demand started when Burger gouged, I think it was Fitzgerald, in the 2009 2nd test, so don't get on your high horse about this!
Posted 11:42 01st March 2013
7ton says...
foxrock
Indeed! as you say. This comments thread is concerned with the England:France match.
Therefore it is very hypocritical of you to lecture new_j4a about that when your early comments in this thread were one big whinge about the RWC final.
Posted 11:37 01st March 2013
new_j4a says...
@lawynd, Exactly right! A ref can only call what he sees and is sometimes unsighted. The laws do not allow for refs to guess whose leg the ball came off. In another example, many probable tries are disallowed when the ref and TMO cannot factually validate the grounding. There is allowance for the ref to determine what would probably have happened as in a penalty try situation, but this doesn't apply to situations like this accidental offside. Refreshing to have your view.
Nice to see a voice of reason on this thread
Posted 11:11 01st March 2013
new_j4a says...
@jontheref You just made my case with this statement: "harping on about "materiality" one of the great cons of excuse making." So you really don't understand the game. Are you qualified to ref...or is that just a self proclaimed title? You must love Wayne Barnes who is a good ref but doesn't like to miss the chance to blow his whistle.
And this..."You are such a sycophant about Joubert, he must be embarrassed by you!" Do you really think he reads this given the absolute drivel you, foxrock, lacroix, and now bimbo write? You must be delusional!
@foxrock, irony indeed, if you both claim to be able to understand the game, yet don't understand the difference between illiteracy and ignorance. I would have thought that you'd be rather more expert on both?
Posted 09:56 01st March 2013