England end Six Nations on a solid note despite France defeat
England ended their Six Nations campaign with a dramatic 33-31 loss to France, but they still made significant progress over the course of the championship.
It was not simply that they won three matches, including an impressive defeat of Ireland that denied the champions a Grand Slam, but the way they played – especially after three successive Six Nations where one of rugby’s most well-resourced countries had managed just two victories.
England finished third at last year’s World Cup in France, but that performance had as much to do with coach Steve Borthwick’s men benefitting from an absurdly lopsided draw that kept them away from the game’s leading powers before they suffered an agonising one-point loss to eventual champions South Africa in the semi-finals.
And the way they started the Six Nations, with narrow wins over Italy and Wales, did little to restore the faith of their supporters.
Then came a fourth straight defeat by Scotland, where England appeared to lose their composure after squandering a promising start in Edinburgh before losing 30-21.
Afterwards, Borthwick – a former England captain – said: “It’s probably the first time in a while that I’d seen the weight of the shirt feel heavy on the players.”
Some supporters were starting to lose patience with his repeated assertion that England were a “new side” in development, but Borthwick was vindicated by his team’s performances in the final two rounds of the tournament as they ran in seven tries in total against Ireland and France.