France v England: Five takeaways as ‘sheer firepower’ saves Les Bleus but Steve Borthwick earns ‘enormous credit’
France's Uini Atonio, left, celebrates with teammate Romain Taofifenua following a try against England.
Following France’s 33-31 victory over England to claim second place in the Six Nations, here are our five takeaways from the thriller in Lyon.
The top line
Thomas Ramos’ nerveless kick with time all but up won France a Six Nations thriller in Lyon and snatched the runners-up spot from England.
Steve Borthwick’s team showed huge character to twice come from behind inside Lyon’s Groupama Stadium; two tries from Ollie Lawrence and one from Marcus Smith overturning an early 13-point deficit – then Tommy Freeman looking to have snatched it at the death.
But despite England outscoring their hosts 4-3 on tries, France escaped to victory on the almost flawless boot of Ramos, who nailed seven out of eight, converting scores from Nolann Le Garrec, Leo Barre and Gael Fickou to bring the curtain down on the championship in grand style.
It may have been an England loss and it’s certain a win today would have been the icing on the cake for Borthwick’s charges, but the manner England lost, brave and powerful to the end, is credit to just how far they’ve moved on in 12 months of rugby considering the score in the corresponding fixture last season.
Thomas Ramos’ clutch kicks sees France edge England in seven-try Six Nations thriller
Blue blitz
This was a match where the sheer power of France down the middle, together with a little luck and the pace of their thinking, were just enough to see off a resourceful and intelligent display by England, who stayed with Les Bleus all the way until the very end.
The much-vaunted French loose trio had an absolute field day in carry and crash, causing so much damage with Francois Cros the architect of two of the French tries, one from a brilliant lineout steal which saw France take it right to the edge of England’s defence, where Henry Slade left Smith too much to do as the Quin stepped in off his defensive line and Le Garrec picked up the resulting pass inside to go under the posts.
The other saw a powerful run for the French flanker, taking the ball deep into the English midfield before quick recycling saw Player of the Match Barre finish through the England defence.
England tried everything in their power to stay in the fight, but the longer the match went on so, small mistakes crept in – Sam Underhill was slow to react on the back of a lineout, and the speculative hoof from Ramos somehow ended up in the England backfield in one of those moments where desire is all, and it was Fickou who wanted it most of all to crash over for a crucial score.
England fortitude
There was a lot to like about England once more. George Ford, a man pilloried in certain areas of the press midweek for reasons best known to others, simply played magnificently controlled rugby – keeping England in places where they could either score or were away from danger.
In the tight, Ellis Genge had one of his finest matches in a long time for England, causing the behemoth Uini Atonio no end of issues as he exposed the tighthead’s ribs to win a number of penalties. With the back-row battle an immense one, both Ollie Chessum and Ben Earl again demonstrated their pace and physicality in massive shifts from both men.
But, like France, it was defensive howlers that cost England; Smith’s try was well taken but he was exposed hugely at times and there’s little doubt that France got a message on to target him aerially once George Furbank left the pitch.
However, with Lawrence again showing that the number 12 shirt is his and both half-backs shining, England’s campaign is one that’s well in credit for this year’s tournament.
Bench fails
Contribution from Alex Spink.
Where to start with this one? It is tempting to point to the use of replacements, except for the fact England almost won it at the death through Freeman’s try.
Against Ireland, England’s use of the bench helped swing the game their way. This time the wheels rather came off with the arrival off fresher legs. The front-row, particularly Genge, had been key to England turning a 13-point deficit into an eight-point lead. No sooner had the trio been swapped for new blood, with the equally influential Chessum departing soon after, than France struck back.
The data might have suggested it was time to swap, but it didn’t feel that way. England were suddenly less than the sum of their parts, a small dip perhaps, but enough to give France heart.
However, England found a way back in, and that is to their enormous credit. Yes, Ramos’ last-gasp kick denied them but the heart of this Borthwick team is not in doubt. After a sluggish start to this tournament they emerge in credit. Two fluffed lineouts cost them here, but they will be better for the experience.
Blunders in defence
For the second week running, miscommunication and poor spacing in defence cost France dearly in terms of England opportunity. To miss one tackle down the middle is excusable but the three defensive howlers France conceded was something akin to rugby criminality.
Firstly, we saw Fickou exposed on the inside, but his structure with Ramos, standing at 13, had been pulled laterally by the fly-half who took a step to leave Fickou with too much too do, but kudos to England for a pass that took out six defenders who had stayed with the previous maul.
Not content with one centre getting misaligned, Nicolas Depoortère and Atonio left far too big a hole, which saw England break through to send Lawrence over for his second. With Deportiere and Ramos also at fault for the Smith try, created by Genge’s brilliant soft pass to send Earl on the initial run, it’s pretty clear that France have a lot of work to do to shore up the centre of their defensive work where alignment, spacing and has become a real issue for them.
In a match played at such pace, there’s always likely to be the odd missed tackle but these are system errors, caused either by concentration lapses or communication mistakes. Whichever way you cut it, France got out of jail courtesy of their sheer firepower tonight but Shaun Edwards must be a concerned man at how his players are implementing his systems.
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