Wales edge France to take second spot

Wales secured second spot on the Six Nations table with a hard-fought 14-13 victory over France at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

France put Wales under serious pressure at the breakdown throughout the game and will be kicking themselves that they did not make their dominance count.  Their cause was not helped with fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc missing an easy penalty which would have given the hosts the lead going in to the final ten minutes.

Ultimately, they were punished for their own indiscipline, with Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny showing them no mercy, kicking three out of his three penalties.

It was a good start for France right from the kick-off, doing well with the lineout drive.  With slow ball and no real options, Trinh-Duc slotted a drop goal to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead.

However, they fluffed their lines from from the restart in embarrassing fashion.  Allowing the ball to bounce, Wales seized possession and Scott Williams put the grubber kick through.  Trinh-Duc came around on the cover defence but misjudged his jump terribly allowing Liam Williams to pounce for the five-pointer.

Halfpenny added two penalties in quick succession (11′, 16′) to extend the Welsh lead to 11-3 but just five minutes later France responded with an excellent team try.

It was a good break from French hooker Adrien Pelissie after the offload by Benjamin Fall, dragging the Welsh defence to the right side of the field before quickly switching the ball to the left where Gael Fickou was on hand to run a great line and outpace the Welsh defence to the whitewash.  Maxime Machenaud slotted the conversion to cut the deficit to a single point at 11-10 after 22 minutes.

The rest of the first-half was an arm wrestle with a Halfpenny penalty the only remaining action as Wales took a 14-10 lead into the interval.

Ten minutes into the second half, Machenaud added a three-pointer after Scott Williams was penalised for not rolling away.  Trinh-Duc should have given his side the lead with 12 minutes to go, badly shanking a routine penalty.

Les Bleus looked as if they might stage a dramatic comeback when they won yet another breakdown penalty with 30 seconds to go.  However, their lineout was stolen with the Welsh booting the ball into touch and abruptly bringing an end to proceedings.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Williams
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

For France:
Try:  Fickou
Con:  Machenaud
Pen:  Machenaud
Drop Goal:  Trinh-Duc

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Justin Tipuric, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Steff Evans

France:  15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Gael Fickou, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud (c), 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Remy Grosso, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Adrien Pelissie, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Geoffrey Palis

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Ireland win third Grand Slam following dominant victory

Ireland saved their best performance until the final round as they won the Grand Slam after comfortably defeating England 24-15 at Twickenham.

Joe Schmidt’s men were excellent throughout but the first half set up the victory with Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale all crossing the whitewash.

Elliot Daly responded for the Red Rose but they were outplayed as the visitors went into the break 21-5 in front.

Eddie Jones’ outfit did pressure the opposition at the start of the second 40 minutes but the Emerald Isle were resolute and Conor Murray extended their buffer from the tee.

Daly touched down for his second and Jonny May also went over as England regained a semblance of pride but, on St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland deservedly emerged with the Triple Crown and Grand Slam.

It was a typically controlled performance from the visitors and the opening to the game set the tone with the champions maintaining possession and forcing England into errors.

Ill-discipline was once again an issue for the hosts and Schmidt’s men capitalised with Ringrose scoring first after Johnny Sexton’s ‘up and under’ caused havoc.  There appeared to be a knock-on by Rob Kearney in the process but, after consultation with the television match official, the try was awarded and they had a deserved 7-0 advantage.

England were struggling to gain front foot ball and, as a result, Ireland dominated territory and duly created a superbly worked effort.

Excellent hands from Tadhg Furlong sent Bundee Aki clear and the centre passed inside to the supporting number eight Stander, who touched down at the base of the post.

It was that clinical edge which was to prove the difference as the home side finally begun to put some pressure on their opponents.  Ireland started to consistently infringe and it eventually led to a yellow card for Peter O’Mahony after a maul was collapsed illegally.

They initially struggled to create opportunities, however, with the away team defending superbly, but their efforts were eventually rewarded when Owen Farrell’s grubber through was pounced on by Daly.

The Emerald Isle could have panicked but they simply regrouped and arguably scored the game-defining try.  Instead of kicking the ball out with the clock in the red, they backed their skills and Stockdale produced a brilliant piece of play to chip ahead and touch down.

With Joey Carbery’s conversion, the visitors were halfway towards the Grand Slam and it was a lead they would hold in the third quarter.

Despite plenty of England possession, Ireland’s rearguard was once again outstanding and they prevented the hosts from getting back into the contest.

Instead, with their first significant attack of the half the visitors earned a three-point opportunity, which Murray converted for a 19-point buffer.

Jones’ men did get a couple back via Daly and May but it was Ireland’s day and Ireland’s championship as they completed a superb triumph to win a third Grand Slam.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Daly 2, May

For Ireland:
Tries:  Ringrose, Stander, Stockdale
Cons:  Sexton 2, Carbery
Pen:  Murray
Yellow Card:  O’Mahony

England:  15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Don Armand, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Mike Brown

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Nigel Owens (Wales)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Greig Laidlaw saves Scotland blushes

Scotland had Greig Laidlaw to thank as his last-gasp penalty secured a 29-27 win over Italy in a Six Nations thriller at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday. 

It was a great advert for Six Nations rugby, as both sides maintained a high standard of play throughout, with the final result impossible to predict until the very end.

The defeat is a cruel one for the Italians as it would have broken a sixteen-match losing streak in the Six Nations.  

Their conditioning, however, must be brought into question as once again they faded from the sixty-minute mark onwards.

They began on the front foot, taking the game to their more-fancied opponents.  Tommaso Allan's sixth-minute penalty was just reward for their sustained pressure.

But Scotland needed just one forage upfield to register the game's first try.  After Nick Grigg made a lovely line break in midfield, Tommy Seymour was halted a couple of metres short.  Good vision from Hamish Watson at stand-in scrum-half found Fraser Brown over the top, the hooker having plenty of time to wait and read the bounce before gathering and dotting down.

However, soon after, the Italians hit back with an outstanding piece of play.  Firstly, it was the Azzurri forwards who showed their strength, outmuscling the Scottish pack and gaining good metres with the driving maul.

They worked it right to the backline with Allan producing a brilliant dummy and shimmy, feinting to pass to his right and then stepping on Huw Jones' inside and putting the foot on the gas, absolutely splintering the Scottish defence.  The irony that Allan began his rugby career in Scotland was not lost in the heat of the moment.

The Italians certainly weren't playing like a side that had lost their last sixteen Six Nations matches.  After making over ten phases, Italian tighthead prop Simone Ferrari made a half-break, fending off Scotland fly-half Finn Russell.  Having made it up to the Scotland ten-metre line and with nothing really on, Allan's beautifully weighted grubber through was snaffled upon by Matteo Minozzi, who was the quickest to react, grabbing his fourth try in five Six Nations matches. 

Five minutes later, the Scots momentarily silenced the Rome faithful, when skipper John Barclay went over at the back of a well-worked Scottish driving maul.  Russell added the extras to cut the deficit to five at 17-12 with 15 minutes of the first-half remaining.

The Italians started the second as they started the first and quickly converted their ascendancy in to points.  Jake Polledri made a sensational barnstorming carry in midfield and ran fourty metres for being chopped down.  The ball was recycled before Polledri rejoined the move to play the final pass for Allan who had an easy run-in to the line, converting his own try for a 24-12 lead.

But the Scots began taking control, winning the collisions, while the Italians started losing their defensive discipline.  After a driving maul and a couple of powerful carries got Scotland close, Laidlaw's long pass over the top found Sean Maitland, the wing straightening and diving over the line.  Laidlaw added the conversion which meant the Scots were now within five.

With ten minutes to go, Azzurri captain Sergio Parisse conceded a turnover penalty, with the Scots opting for touch and the rolling maul, which was halted inches short once again.  Nine phases later, Italian resistance was finally broken when Hogg split the gap between Sebastian Negri and Jayden Hayward to level matters.  Laidlaw's conversion gave the Scots a 26-24 lead with eight minutes to go.

By this stage the Italians were tiring and unable to commit as many men to the breakdown.  However, they soldiered on and from the restart won a penalty for a Scotland tackler not rolling away.  Allan slotted a 55 metre pressure penalty much to the delight of the rapturous Rome crowd.

But Scotland were not to be outdone and had the ever-reliable Laidlaw to thank as this spectacular game offered up one more twist.  The scrum-half showed ice-cold composure to strike the match-winning penalty between the posts after Italy were penalised for collapsing the maul.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Allan 2, Minozzi
Cons:  Allan 3
Pens:  Allan 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Brown, Barclay, Maitland, Hogg
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pen:  Laidlaw

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziani Pasquali, 19 Abraham Steyn, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Nick Grigg, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 WP Nel, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Richie Gray, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Blair Kinghorn

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Wales get the better of Italy to go second

Wales returned to the victory trail in the Six Nations when they claimed a 38-14 bonus-point win over Italy in Cardiff on Sunday.

Although they were comfortable winners in the end, Wales were frustrated for large periods as Italy delivered a competitive performance and the home side only secured their try-scoring bonus point in the 67th minute.

The victory means Wales move above England, France and Scotland into second place in the standings while Italy are still firmly rooted at the bottom of the table.  This result means the Azzurri have now lost 16 successive Six Nations matches with their last victory in the competition registered on February 28, 2015 when they beat Scotland and Murrayfield.

The match started brightly for the home side and they opened their account as early as the fourth minute when Hadleigh Parkes gathered the ball close to Italy's try-line before spinning out of a couple of tackles on his way over the try-line.

Wales continued to attack and three minutes later, Owen Watkin pounced on a poor offload.  Watkin did well to get a pass out to the onrushing George North, who ran for more than 50 metres before crossing the whitewash.

Despite trailing 14-0 on the scoreboard, Italy stayed true to their attacking style of play and in the ninth minute Matteo Minozzi showed why he is so highly rated when he beat North with good footwork before crossing for his side's first try.

Wales thought they had extended their lead when Steff Evans chipped ahead inside Italy's 22 and Gareth Davies did well to gather the kick before dotting down.  However, their joy was short-lived as television replays revealed that Davies was in front of the ball when Evans kicked it upfield.

Wales put that incident behind them and increased their lead in the 37th minute when Gareth Anscombe slotted a penalty after Giulio Bisegni strayed offside on defence.

Just before half-time, Wales were reduced to 14 men when Liam Williams was sent to the sin-bin for making contact to Minozzi's neck with his shoulder, but although Italy had superior numbers, it did not deter the home side as three minutes after the restart, Cory Hill barged over for their third try after running onto a pass from scrum-half Davies close to Italy's 22.

Wales suffered another blow in the 50th minute when Davies was also yellow carded when he deliberately knocked on an Italian pass and for about two minutes the home side only had 13 men on the field.

Despite having a bulk of the territory and possession, Wales could not convert their dominance into points on the scoreboard as Italy kept them at bay with a solid defensive effort.

Wales continued to attack and thought they had their fourth try in the 65th minute when Parkes went over the try-line but his effort was disallowed when the television match official ruled that there was no clear grounding.

Two minutes later, Wales launched an attack from a scrum on Italy's five-metre line and North gathered a pass from Rhys Patchell before crashing over for that elusive fourth try.

In the 71st minute, Justin Tipuric crossed for his side's fifth try after the ball went through several phases in the build-up and five minutes later Mattia Bellini scored a consolation try for the visitors.

With the game in the bag, Wales took their foot off the pedal although Italy finished the match with 14 men when Tommaso Benvenuti was also sent to the sin-bin shortly before the full-time whistle for a similar indiscretion to Davies' earlier on.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Parkes, North 2, Hill, Tipuric
Cons:  Anscombe 3, Halfpenny 2
Pen:  Anscombe
Yellow Cards:  Williams, G Davies

For Italy:
Tries:  Minozzi, Bellini
Cons:  Allan, Canna
Yellow Card:  Benvenuti

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau (c), 7 James Davies, 6 Justin Tipuric, 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Leigh Halfpenny

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Ireland too strong for Scotland

Ireland moved closer to the Six Nations title following a comfortable 28-8 triumph over Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.

In a thrilling first half, Greig Laidlaw opened the game’s account by kicking a penalty but two Jacob Stockdale tries gave the Emerald Isle an 11-point buffer at the interval.

Conor Murray extended the lead early in the second period before Blair Kinghorn gave the visitors hope going into the final half-hour.

Joe Schmidt’s men continued to control matters, though, and Sean Cronin made the game safe by barging across the whitewash from close range for the crucial bonus-point.

They will head to Twickenham with an opportunity of claiming a Grand Slam for just the third time in their history, while Scotland are now out of the title race.

The hosts began the game in the ascendency, keeping the ball impressively through the phases, but mistakes at costly times prevented them from opening the scoring.

Scottish defence in the early stages was ferocious and uncharacteristic errors crept into the Irish game.  There were knock-ons aplenty and the visitors benefited by earning a penalty on the opposition 22, which Laidlaw converted.

That effort gave Gregor Townsend’s men confidence and Stuart Hogg, Kinghorn and Finn Russell all displayed some neat touches, but they proceeded to undo their good work.

The away side had created space out wide but Peter Horne threw a needless pass to give Stockdale an easy intercept try.  Jonathan Sexton converted and Ireland held a 7-3 advantage after 25 minutes.

It was proving to be a pulsating contest with both teams showing creativity and physicality in abundance.  However, the respective rearguards remained on top until late in the half when Schmidt’s team found a clinical edge.

Following Rob Kearney’s break, which almost ended in Murray crossing the whitewash, the hosts were awarded a scrum five metres out and Garry Ringrose combined with Bundee Aki to send Stockdale over.

Ireland duly went into the break 14-3 ahead and took that momentum into the second period, dominating the opening exchanges and pressurising the opposition 22.

A sixth Scotland infringement at the breakdown allowed the Emerald Isle to build another attack and Murray displayed his sniping instincts to touch down from close range.

Similar to their Wales performance, Townsend’s team could have folded but they showed commendable spirit to come back into the encounter via a well-worked score for Kinghorn.

However, the Scots were not quite at Ireland’s level, failing to take the chances that came their way and also conceding far too many penalties.

Once such error gave Sexton a chance to extend their advantage but, although the fly-half missed for the only time off the tee, it did not matter as Cronin secured the five points in the final quarter.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stockdale 2, Murray, Cronin
Cons:  Sexton 4

For Scotland:
Try:  Kinghorn
Pen:  Laidlaw

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Blair Kinghorn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Lee Jones

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Ireland win Six Nations after England lose to France

Ireland have won the Six Nations championship after a lacklustre England succumbed 22-16 to an improved French side at the Stade de France.

Eddie Jones required tries but all he got was three-pointers in the first half as the teams traded three penalties apiece.  Maxime Machenaud kicked all of Les Bleus’ points while Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly shared out the Red Rose’s before the interval.

It was a poor performance from England in the opening period and they continued to underwhelm after the break.

Jacques Brunel’s men duly punished their ill-discipline and inability to get across the gainline as a penalty try and another Machenaud effort off moved them in front.

The away team hit back via Jonny May but it wasn’t enough as Lionel Beauxis scored a late penalty in a frantic finish.

With Ireland’s result earlier moving them 10 points clear of the Red Rose, the visitors needed a quick start and they dominated possession and territory.

Chances were few and far between, however, and they had to make do with the accurate kicking of Farrell and Daly to accrue their points.

The hosts conceded penalties at will in the opening stages, allowing England to go 6-0 ahead via their centre and returning winger, who was on target with a long-range effort.

France soon took charge of the breakdown battle, though, and reduced the arrears through Machenaud before Farrell regained the away side’s six-point buffer.

England needed a spark to get them going but, as they were against Scotland, Jones’ men lacked direction and intensity.  In fact, the hosts arguably looked more dangerous with ball in hand and deservedly levelled proceedings at the break, with Machenaud adding a brace of three-pointers.

Nevertheless, it was hardly a match to inspire and the performances of both sides were symptomatic of their respective campaigns.

Those frustrations continued into the second half with creativity at a minimum, but France finally found an opening.  With a penalty advantage, Francois Trinh-Duc kicked out to the left where Benjamin Fall gathered and was tackled high by Anthony Watson.

Jaco Peyper, in consultation with the television match official, correctly awarded a penalty try and sent the full-back to the sin-bin.

All of a sudden, Les Bleus had the momentum and produced another opportunity from an England mistake – their umpteenth of the match – but they butchered the chance and the visitors escaped.

Unperturbed, a far more confident French outfit merely went again and earned a fourth three-point chance, which Machenaud duly kicked to extend their buffer.

Entering the last 10 minutes, Jones’ men looked out of the contest but, whether through tiredness or nerves, holes began to appear in the hosts’ defence and May gave the English hope.

They continued to press, despite a Beauxis penalty, but it was not enough as France deservedly came away with the victory.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Penalty try
Pens:  Machenaud 4, Beauxis

For England:
Try:  May
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 2, Daly
Yellow Card:  Watson

France:  15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhelm Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Gaël Fickou

England:  15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te’o, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 James Haskell, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Mike Brown

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)