England player ratings v France: ‘Masterful’ Fin Smith steers Steve Borthwick’s men to dramatic victory as bench finally ‘delivers’
How we rated Steve Borthwick's men in their victory over France.
Following England’s shock 26-25 victory over France in the Six Nations, here is how we rated Steve Borthwick’s men in the clash at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
England player ratings v France
15 Marcus Smith: The reactions will be mixed on his performance ranging from dreadful to excellent but the ploy to push him to full-back was proven to be right. He covered the back-field well and kept England in the kicking duel while adding value on attack too. England have regularly deployed the dual playmaker – notably with George Ford and Owen Farrell – and today showed it can work. There were errors but that is to be expected. His kicking woes made things difficult. 4
14 Tommy Freeman: Sensationally plucked the ball out of the skies from the restart and moments later did the same to score a fantastic try. Used often to smash it up from the first phase and did so manfully in what was one of his more influential performances in some time. 8
13 Ollie Lawrence: Not quite as box-office as he was against Ireland but still put in a fine shift grabbing one of the most unconvincing attacking tries you’ll ever see. Part of a rather effective defence that kept a rampant French attack largely at bay. 6
12 Henry Slade: The stats won’t tell the full story of his defensive effort as he did miss several tackles but put the French attack under the cosh. Kicked well out of hand too and linked up well with Lawrence and Fin Smith while gaining over 30 metres with ball in hand. 7
Fin Smith leads England to shock win over France that blows Six Nations wide open
11 Ollie Sleightholme: Was rather fortunate that France did not exploit some of his defensive lapses because if they did, Les Bleus would have thrashed England again. He was caught too narrow defensively and really should have done better in gathering the ball for Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s second try. 5
Fantastic Fin
10 Fin Smith: A commanding performance in his first start. His restarts repeatedly gave England threatening opportunities, one of which paid dividends for his Northampton teammate. His grubbers were well placed and often the right option as he produced a confident display in all facets of the game including fantastic line kicks – one of which giving him the chance to provide the winning try assist. Much of the preview was centred around England’s ability to counter France’s excellent kicking game and Fin played a huge part in the success. The double Smith-axis proved that it can work and he was fittingly given the chance to kick the winning points and he duly delivered. A masterful performance beyond his years and rightly judged to be the man of the match. What a day for the 22-year-old. 9
9 Alex Mitchell: Another who played a big role in England winning the kicking battle and got the attack firing when needed. He also cleaned up the back well on occasion. 7
Loose forwards
8 Tom Willis: Finally given the opportunity in the starting XV and he took it with a mammoth tackle count and carried strongly throughout his shift. He made good yardage with the ball in hand. 7
7 Ben Earl: A huge work-rate and left on the park for the full 80 minutes and England benefitted from that. He was huge in all departments but mostly importantly in providing a breakdown threat along with the Currys. 8
6 Tom Curry: Absolutely superb on defence and over the ball. Curry was sensational last week and not only built on that shift but improved on it. He was crucial to stopping Les Bleus’ key attacking weapons and his brother picked up from where he left off. 9
Tight five and bench
5 George Martin: There is no subtlety to his game, he goes out to land big shots on defence and does so more often than not and today was no different. He was excellent in the rucks too. 7
4 Maro Itoje (c): A first win as England skipper and it comes at no shock that he put in a standout performance. A key figure in the lineout and in the tight while he pitched in with a steal too and stayed on the right side of the referee’s whistle. 8
3 Will Stuart: His scrummaging has gone to another level recently and there is no better indication of that than his outing against the behemoth French pack where he was resolute. 7
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie: Sharp, accurate and busy around the park. A stock standard Cowan-Dickie performance. 6
1 Ellis Genge: Put the massive frame of Uini Atonio under pressure at scrum time while being busy defensively and adding value on attack. 7
Replacements: The England bench has failed to impress in recent Tests which has been their undoing in matches against fellow Tier One opposition but that was not the case today. The two crucial tries came from replacements Fin Baxter and Elliot Daly while Ben Curry was utterly sublime. Borthwick needed his bench to step up and they finally did so as they blew finally ending the heartache and clinched the victory from the jaws of defeat. 9
