England ended their wait for a victory over a Tier 1 nation with a gutsy 26-25 win over France at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Player of the Match Fin Smith’s conversion in the 80th minute after Elliot Daly’s try was enough to get them over the line, but other scores from Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman and Fin Baxter ensured they took away maximum points in their quest for the Six Nations title.
The opening 10 minutes were as cagey as you could imagine, with kick-tennis dominating much of the game, but Les Bleus certainly looked to have the upper hand.
A delicious break from Thomas Ramos created their best chance to capitalise on this dominance, as he sliced open the English defence with ease, however just as France looked to pounce Alexandre Roumat spilled the ball and gave England an easy reprieve.
The full-back had another golden opportunity to put his team into the lead, this time from the tee, but the usually automatic kicker pulled his effort just wide.
England nearly made them pay for this miss too. A turnover from Tom Curry gave them their first genuine period of possession in France’s half, and strong carries from Tom Willis and Lawrence saw them get to within touching distance of the line, but a pivotal turnover cost them just as they looked to pounce.
With broken field ahead of them, France looked to strike. Les Bleus almost teleported up the pitch and to within striking distance of the English line, but Ramos’ pass was spilt into touch by the mercurial Antoine Dupont and yet another chance went begging.
This wasn’t the end of it though. France stole the proceeding lineout and looked to set-up shop in England’s five-metre. Some solid smash-and-bash from the pack gave them a perfect chance to finally cross the whitewash, however, Damian Penaud lost control of the ball and the chance was gone.
But, France did eventually make their dominance count as Louis Bielle-Biarrey latched onto Penaud’s clever grubber kick to score.
This seemed to bring England back to life, and they hit back with a try of their own through Lawrence as he powered over from short distance.
Momentum was beginning to shift towards the hosts now too, and a cheap penalty from Penaud allowed England to once again march into the 22; however, a costly knock-on from Curry saw the attack grind to a halt just as quickly as it began.
The opening of the second-half was the complete opposite of the first, but it still had the same theme running through it. France missed chances.
A sneaky rip from Bielle-Biarrey saw the Bordeaux flier motor towards the England line, but in keeping with the rest of the game, his pass to Peato Mauvaka fell to the floor just as the Toulouse hooker looked like walking home.
Les Bleus eventually did add to their tally, though, as Ramos knocked over two three-pointers to pull his side six points ahead.
This didn’t deter the hosts though, as Freeman soared highest to collect Fin Smith’s pinpoint cross-field kick to dot down and bring them back to within one point.
France hit back with an instant response though as Penaud crossed out wide. Some delicious play from Ramos, Gregory Alldritt and Bielle-Biarrey marched the visitors down the pitch. Then, quick hands through the backs found the Bordeaux winger in space out wide, and he made no mistake with the finish.
Again, England rallied after this and came within a whisker of scoring. A cute delayed pass from Fin Smith saw replacement Jamie George charge through the French line, and he later connected with Tom Curry too, however a heroic tackle from Oscar Jegou denied the Sale man a certain try.
But, a costly French knock-on from the resulting restart gifted England possession back in the 22, however, another missed kick from Marcus Smith meant France got off scot-free.
England weren’t sent packing though, even with Smith’s latest miss of the tee, and they eventually made their pressure count as Baxter burrowed over from short-range. A change in kicker proved just the ticket too, as Fin Smith’s conversion put England back ahead with less than 10 minutes to go.
This lead vanished in a matter of minutes though, as Bielle-Biarrey finished off a simply sensational counter-attack. Ramos’ conversion split the uprights, and once again France led by six with just four minutes left on the clock.
With the clock winding down, England had one final throw of the dice, and they made it count as Daly powered over after a clever strike move. Fin Smith’s conversion sailed through the sticks too, giving England that long-awaited win over a Tier 1 side.
The teams
England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly
France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Émilien Gailleton
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
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