Following a 26-25 victory for England against France in the Six Nations, here’s our five takeaways from a gripping match at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday.
The top line
An error-ridden Test match that started slowly but grew into an epic climax of stress and mistakes saw a stuttering and futtering France lose in the final moments of the match as Elliot Daly screamed over to take the points in a thrilling last quarter.
It was breathless stuff, a win based upon fortitude and resilience over any form of creative spark, but it was the brilliance of England‘s defence, led by Ben Earl, Tom Curry and Maro Itoje, that created the platform for belief and the moments that won the game, as 39 handling errors blighted any flow that the game tried to muster.
It was Earl, a titan all evening in the back-row, that made the killer blow; a brilliant jackal on the 77th minute that allowed England to kick for touch, maul to suck France in – and as the visitors threw men into the maul to hold the hosts, so Daly, who had literally just walked onto the pitch, got a lovely ball in midfield, where Les Bleus had run out of numbers.
It was less than a classic in terms of rugby skills, but that won’t bother England. They scored four tries to three and defended their nuts off in a Six Nations display that might not be pinned up in the art gallery but will certainly get many views by the players, fans and supporters who finally have seen England score points in the last quarter and close a game off in key moments of a Test match against one of the top four in the rankings.
The Smiths
Was it a success?
Well in Test rugby the ebbs and flows of the game means that absolutes are hard – but Fin at 10 gave England structure – to his credit he got the English superpowers of direct physicality into the areas that would hurt France as delightful pop passes near the line allowed Curry, Earl, George Martin and Ollie Lawrence to crash tirelessly into midfield to make dents galore.
The simple stats tell a tale; England made 956 metres against France’s 722. With ball in hand they carried for 606 metres against France’s 476, a clear indication that the visitors failed to get their big men rumbling and, even when they did, a litany of final pass misery saw them lose the ball on four occasions with the line beckoning. In the first half alone, errors from both Damian Penaud and Antoine Dupont saw France fluff their lines with easy run ins – but you could argue it was the brilliance of England’s suffocation work around the ruck and in midfield that forced the errors.
Fin Smith leads England to shock win over France that blows Six Nations wide open
Whilst Fin justified his selection with a promising performance, Marcus was less convincing at 15; he had a nightmare day off the tee, missing three kicks that cost England seven points, and it was his defensive error misfielding a kick through that allowed France to grab a try in the second half against the run of play as Louis Bielle-Biarrey tried his best to break the English hearts.
In summary, you might conclude that whilst Fin played like This Charming Man, Marcus was more like the Boy With the Thorn in His Side as the Northampton Saint grabbed Player of the Match in a performance that will see him retain the 10 jersey for the foreseeable future.
England defence
To get anything out of this game, the pre-match narrative was all about the need for England to defend with blitz, bang and barge. Accuracy around the fringes was a key focus and, led by the outstanding Curry at blindside and Earl at both openside and eight, England’s resilience and precision was a credit to their coaching staff.
With Romain Ntamack missing at 10, France seemed far more lateral, especially when running out of defence, as the English centres and back-row pressed up hard into their faces, giving them little time to get the straight line seam runners hitting the gainline in the manner we’ve been accustomed. Matthieu Jalibert doesn’t have the ability of Ntamack to threaten the face of the line with power or offload as options, and the work of England’s primary defence forced France into error after error with ball in hand.
Nothing could have epitomised the England effort more than the last ditch tackle by Ollie Sleightholme as Bielle-Biarrey was the recipient of a fumbled ball on the halfway line from Marcus Smith and looked for all money to be igniting the after burners, but the Saints flyer covered across from the other wing and kept the Bordeaux man out in a wonderful piece of cover tackling.
For those that are suggesting Earl is in decline, it was his moment when he won a crucial turnover from France as they tried to exit that turned defeat into victory, as he set England up with the chance for that last brilliant moment from their maul. With Itoje, Lawrence and Curry of course causing France a lot of issues like Earl around the breakdown with all having their moments with the jackal, it was a defensive performance from England that really gave them a platform to work with and belief to take with them into Round Three when they host Scotland.
Contestables
If England had one area where they knew they could cause France issues it was the tramline contestables and Fin Smith really gave Bielle-Biarrey and Penaud a torrid time down the channels that really caused France some problems. It was an area South Africa exploited in the World Cup quarter-final and a weakness in the French game that once again was their soft underbelly at Twickenham.
Six knock-ons and a penalty came from the visitors’ lackadaisical commitment in the airways, with Penaud failing to use his 1.90m to claim anything, and Tommy Freeman dominating Bielle-Biarrey with height and physicality.
England’s best moments came when using kicks to get into the wide spaces and it was no surprise to see Freeman profit from Fin Smith’s game control as the fly-half provided his right winger with a sumptuous kick to see the Saint scoot over for England’s second try.
And, it was a similar contestable deep in England’s half as they exited down the right that allowed England space to get back into the game down the other half of the pitch as a French defender knocked back, only for Freeman to pick up and once again give England the momentum and the opportunity to close the game out, although the impact of their replacements, particularly their front-row, was something else that will please the coaches. Steve Borthwick’s replacements, so often a demise in recent times, came to the fore big time in this match as their scrum and their back-row substitutes put in massive performances. We saw Fin Baxter turn Georges-Henri Colombes into blancmange in the scrum, a massive performance that created the penalty moment that allowed the Harlequins loosehead to grab a key score in the 66th minute. With Ben Curry following in his brother’s footsteps to grab a key jackal, and Daly delivering a killer blow at the end, this was a strategy that was key in England’s win, in stark contrast to the last few Tests we’ve seen from the men in white.
French handling costs
This wasn’t the precision attacking force we’ve come to expect from Les Bleus. The number of final handling errors they made was criminal for a backline of their ability. Perhaps it was the cold and dampness of Twickenham, but more likely it was the sheer resilience and aggression of the English defensive effort that rocked the visitors to their core.
France have had a lot of enforced changes. Losing direct and powerful runners like Gael Fickou, Charles Ollivon and Ntamack took so much away from their threat in attack. Jalibert lacked the straightline approach of the Toulouse fly-half and as the match progressed, the UBB man became more and more lateral, something England’s mobile back-row lapped up. He needed a big runner straightening up the line and committing bodies to tackle or ruck and none were forthcoming.
It was all a little frenetic, forced and at times, lacking the precision we’ve come to expect from this high quality French team and their lack of ability to break the gainline or win the collision held them back.
Bolt in the litany of handling errors – 19 in total, and France may well reflect that today was a match in which their errors, lack of gainline runners and the tenacity of England’s defence conspired to create the perfect storm for them.