England defied the odds by beating France 24-13 at the Stade de France on Saturday and in doing so kept their own Six Nations title hopes alive.
France, playing an exciting new brand of rugby under Marc Lièvremont, were widely-tipped to put a troubled England side to the sword - that was not to be the case. England were gifted the dream start when Paul Sackey went over after just five minutes and from there Jonny Wilkinson's boot guided them home.
With France still hunting for a win late on Richard Wigglesworth, on his first start for England, went over with the final move of the game to secure the victory. The result blows the tournament wide open again, although Wales lead the way with three wins from three.
Questions have been asked of Brian Ashton and his England vision, and although some still remain unanswered many were dealt with in emphatic style. The control England showed was superb and they never once looked in danger of losing a game few gave them any hope of winning.
Their job was made considerably easier by a French side who failed to find the running game that has served them so well in the last two rounds. That they constantly tried to force the matter in the opening half was to their detriment as it gifted England a perfect start.
Cédric Heymans, the stooge of many a side, was at fault as England scored after just five minutes. It was he who lost the ball in a thunderous tackle from Jamie Noon allowing Sackey a simple kick ahead to slide over. Wilkinson added the conversion and before long had tacked on an extra three points to punish Pascal Pape's indiscretion at the breakdown.
In contrast France looked flat in attack and when it came to goal-kicking Damien Traille was shown up for the bit-part kicker he was, missing two relatively easy attempts at goal. He had no problems converting Lionel Nallet's try though, the result of concerted forward pressure on the England line.
Wilkinson again showed the worth of a recognised goal-kicker, slotting his second penalty on the half hour to ensure England turned around at the break with a six-point cushion. It may well have been just the three but Traille missed yet another effort.
The second half was slow to get going, almost as slow as England have been in realising the attacking potential of Lesley Vainikolo. It took them a full sixty minutes to finally bring the big Tongan-born winger into the action, and when they did he barged his way through two tackles and laid the platform for a telling England attack.
With France turning to Morgan Parra's boot it was he who brought them within three points of England, that was until Vainikolo set a solid platform for Wilkinson to knock over a drop goal - his 29th in Test rugby, a new world record. Records aside, the drop goal showed Wilkinson's maturity and knowledge of the game.
England had been under considerable pressure for nigh on twenty minutes yet the first chance they had of points and Wilkinson took them, regardless of the fact the attack was still developing and causing France problems. That alone highlighted the need for Wilkinson in the side, one feels the likes of Danny Cipriani would have opted to keep the ball in hand instead and in doing so risk coming away with nothing to show for their efforts.
Another penalty from Wilkinson left France chasing the game late on, and although Dimitri Yachvili slotted a fine penalty the result was never in doubt. In fact his three points only served to fire England into further action, a telling series of drives paving the way for Wigglesworth to secure the win.
There is no denying Ashton still has work to do but this result will give his squad a much-needed boost after a decidedly lacklustre start to their campaign. One hopes that the joy of the win doesn't gloss over the glaring cracks in the team. There can surely no longer be a place in the side for Iain Balshaw who again showed his aversion to the high ball, often leaving the likes of Noon and Flood covering his mistakes.
The use, or lack thereof, of Lesley Vainikolo needs to be addressed with some urgency. To have a player of this stature in your side only to positively ignore him is a heinous crime and a waste of his talent. Admittedly he is still learning his trade, the man admitted as much himself in the week, but to starve him of ball is to ignore a potent attacking weapon.
Marc Lièvremont must not hit the panic button, after all this is the first defeat he has suffered since taking over. There will be those who point to his selections, three players at the heart of the team with a lack of experience, yet truth be known it was the senior players coming up with the bulk of the errors.
Man of the Match: No surprise this one goes the way of an Englishman. Jonny Wilkinson showed his true worth to the side, while Michael Lipman is industrious in all that he did, but without a doubt this award goes to scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth. He injected some much needed life into England's game and his try at the death was a just reward for his efforts.
Moment of the Match: That drop goal from Jonny Wilkinson. Not only was it a record for the fly-half, and not only was it a measure of his ability but most importantly it left France with a mountain they could not quite climb.
Villain of the Match: There was plenty of niggle, as one would expect, but nothing serious enough to merit this award.
The Scorers:
For France:
Tries: Sackey, Wigglesworth
Con: Wilkinson
Pens: Wilkinson 3
Drop goal: Wilkinson
For England:
Tries: Nallet
Cons: Traille
Pens: Parra, Yachvili
The Teams:
France: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 David Marty, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Lionel Nallet (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Jérôme Thion, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 David Skrela, 22 Anthony Floch.
England: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Michael Lipman, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Ben Kay, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Danny Cipriani, 22 Mathew Tait.
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)
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