THOMAS BOOTS ENGLISH IN LYON
France 33 31
BY STEVE BORTHWICK’S England were left heartbroken by the boot of French fly-half Thomas Ramos.
The duel for second ended in defeat for the English when Ramos nailed a penalty from halfway with the clock in the red.
And that all added up to third-placed finish in the Six Nations for Borthwick’s men – but they went out on their shields here, scoring four tries.
England had not won in France since Eddie Jones’ side clinched the Grand Slam in Paris in 2016 but Northampton wing Tommy Freeman got England to within one point after a brilliant flick pass from Marcus Smith had put him over in the corner with four minutes left.
And George Ford’s nerveless conversion made it 31-30 to put England on the verge of a second huge win in a week – then Ramos pooped the party (inset).
Saracens back row Ben Earl put in another colossal shift to cap a tournament that has seen him elevated to the top rank of forwards in the world.
Sam Underhill added to his good form after being initially left out of France 2023, Alex Mitchell continued to add zip at scrum-half, and Ford brains at 10, and Freeman was powerful on the wing.
England were hamstrung by the loss of George Furbank with a calf injury after just eight minutes but Smith slotted in at full-back where he had played in the World Cup.
Smith added pace and zip as England hit France with the old one-two either side of half-time with two scores from Ollie Lawrence.
Then Smith added a third to leave the French reeling at 24-16 down before France hit back.
England’s remote hopes of winning the title had already been torpedoed by the time they took the pitch thanks to Ireland’s win over Scotland. But with three wins out of four in the bag they were looking to equal their best Six Nations since 2020.
England turned 16-10 down at the break and had their blitz defence blitzed by the French twice in the first 40 minutes.
The first ended up with Racing 92 scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec finishing off a team move and the second was only thwarted thanks to Smith’s cover.
In between the boot of French fly-half Ramos had kept the hosts at arms’ length but Bath centre Lawrence gave Borthwick’s men a shot in the arm on the stroke of half-time. England had a couple of penalties which George Ford kicked to the corner and on the second Lawrence smashed through the home defence.
Lawrence made it two in quick time on 42 minutes. England recycled the ball and the powerhouse midfielder barged over to leave France rocking at 17-16 down. And they were on the canvas when Earl bust the French midfield and fed Smith to score.
England then got caught short-handed in defence as French full-back Leo Barre scored a walk-in try as it was a one-point game going into the final quarter.
Borthwick threw on Manu Tuilagi but his side were exposed again as Gael Fickou rampaged through, after an overthrown English line out and left them chasing at 30-24. Then Freeman struck... but Ramos had the last word. FRANCE:
ENGLAND: