Opinion: ‘Pinch-me moment’ for Steve Borthwick as England banish ‘ghosts of blunders past’
England claimed a shock win against France in the Six Nations.
Five minutes to go and England back in familiar surroundings. Under their own posts, wondering how another had got away.
Or so we thought after Louis Bielle-Biarrey pounced to relieve Steve Borthwick’s side of a winning position in the dying moments of another game they had in the bag.
Once again England had put themselves in a place to win a rugby match and end their agonising habit of contriving new ways to cough up hard-earned gains.
To do what they had failed to against South Africa, France, New Zealand (three times), Australia, South Africa (again) and Ireland in Test matches dating back to the business end of the 2023 World Cup.
Brave England
Bielle-Biarrey looked to have changed all that with his second try at Twickenham. But beneath the posts England captain Maro Itoje saw something in the eyes of his players.
“The ambition and the mindset was to go after the win,” he said. “We wanted to go after France. We knew we needed a score and, fair play, we were brave.”
What followed was a pinch-me moment for Borthwick. A redemptive moment to savour.
A week after being slated over performance and ineffectual use of replacements in Dublin, he watched as the bench boys came together to score a last-minute try – and Fin Smith nailed the winning conversion.
The same Smith who had been given his first start at fly-half in place of namesake Marcus as Borthwick rolled the dice in increasing desperation to stop the bleeding.
If Borthwick was tempted to flash two fingers to his critics he did not let on. He thought not of himself but the long-suffering fans.
“I’m delighted for them,” he said after the Six Nations win. “I hope they’re filling up the pubs in south west London. Jumping up and down on sofas in their living rooms all across England.”
They were doing that alright after an extraordinary match summed up, certainly from France’s point of view, as a comedy of errors. Never, surely, has such a talented side shot itself in the foot quite so many times.
For 40 minutes England were every bit as compliant as France would have hoped, offering nothing going forward and shaky as hell on the edges whenever the visitors went wide.
But Fabien Galthie’s men were casual beyond belief. Almost as if they felt they only had to turn up to win. Admittedly a few of us thought that as well, but that is not how it actually works in professional sport.
Even Antoine Dupont was guilty of the charge, spilling a scoring pass on 20 minutes with the line at his mercy. By then Damian Penaud had already dropped one clanger, in his first outing since scoring six in one Champions Cup game.
Everything he touched turned to gold that day in Bordeaux. Everything he touched here went to ground. When a second clear scoring opportunity slipped through his hands soon after Dupont’s blunder the whole of France gave a collective shrug.
The opening score, when it finally came, stayed true to type. France attacked and this time Peato Mauvaka dropped the ball. But it went backwards and the broken play situation allowed Dupont to show his class.
The scrum-half cleared up and accelerated into space before feeding inside to Penaud, who at last fielded cleanly and dropped the ball on his boot for Bielle-Biarrey to score at the left corner flag.
Now was the time for France to turn the screw, to remind England of the inadequacies that have stalked them for a year. It never happened.
Instead it was Borthwick’s team who rallied. The good-for-nothing men in white who had blown game after game through summer, autumn and winter by melting when the heat came on.
This was their day of redemption. It began on 58 minutes, around the time they fell away so dramatically in Dublin. Alex Mitchell almost got in on the right but although he was repelled England would not take no for an answer.
Tommy Freeman twice attacked the line before, with his third touch of the same move, shovelling the scoring pass to Ollie Lawrence.
France circled under the posts, presumably to remind each other that this was the team they hammered 53-10 on their last visit. Conversation over, they claimed the next two scores.
Critically, though, they only came from the penalty spot. England were still within touching distance and didn’t need to be told. From the second of those restarts, Freeman tapped back to Mitchell before a third Saint, Fin Smith, put boot to ball and Freeman climbed above Bielle-Biarrey to claim the try.
This being England they missed an easy conversion and Penaud scored soon after, his 37th Test try taking him within one of Serge Blanco’s national record. Marcus Smith then snap hooked a second kick at the sticks he would expect to land in his sleep.
But they continued to fight. Boy did they put it all out there. A cavalry unfit for purpose a week ago rode to the rescue not this time with pea-shooters but bazookas.
Fin Baxter, their baby-faced assassin of a prop won a scrum penalty then, from the line-out, drove over for the try and Fin Smith’s conversion put England ahead for the first time.
Five minutes left on the clock and still Twickenham could not rest easy. The ghosts of blunders past circled waiting for the inevitable, which duly arrived when Bielle-Biarrey went over for his 14th try in only his 16th Test.
Last roll of the dice
The old cabbage patch groaned at the inevitability of it all. Borthwick’s shoulders sagged in the coaching box and Ramos converted to put France six clear.
Almost out of sight Elliot Daly came onto the field to replace Henry Slade. The clock ticked to 79 minutes and England took a final throw of the dice. A kick to the corner and it was over to the bench boys.
Jamie George threw into the line-out and as Ollie Chessum claimed it Daly tore infield from his left wing on an arcing run perfectly timed to collect the scoring pass from Fin Smith.
Cue pandemonium. England players in each others arms, supporters on all four sides pinching themselves. It was only one win, but after the year England have had, it felt like so much more.
