MARTIN SAMUEL’S AND SIR CLIVE WOODWARD’S VERDICTS
French big men cut down to size
You’re a big man,’ says Michael Caine, as Jack Carter, ‘but you’re out of shape. With me, it’s a full time job — now behave yourself.’ He then administers what, in the local parlance, might be called a slap.
As was given to France at Twickenham yesterday. Big men, but out of shape, structurally as much as physically, they could not live with eddie Jones’s england.
A full-time job? Jones would most certainly say so about this Six Nations campaign. He refuses to countenance talk of these games having any bearing on england’s strategy in World Cup year, but it was impossible not to witness such an emphatic victory without casting one’s mind forward to october 12, when england next face France in their final Pool C qualifying game in Yokohama.
even with Argentina also in the mix it is seen as the match that could decide who qualifies, or who wins the group. either way, here was another marker after the win in Ireland, France blown away — their most significant defeat since the very first Championship meeting of the nations to take place in england in 1911.
It was a 37-point winning margin 108 years ago, and 36 points this time around. It would have been more had england not run out of steam in the second-half.
Perversely, Jones hailed the second-half rearguard actions as more impressive, despite leading 30-8 at half-time and claiming a bonus point within 30 minutes. He also described Warren Gatland’s Wales, england’s next opponents, as the best Welsh team ever.
Sometimes, his postmatch exercises appear wanton exercises in mischief. He was indisputably right about one thing, though: england left as many as 20 points out there. Despite the enormous scoreline, they did what was necessary, much like Jack Carter.
And there was blood. This is not called Le Crunch for nothing and the head injury sustained by flanker Tom Curry in the secondhalf was spectacular even by Six Nations standards.
The wound looked as if he had been taken out by one clean shot from an assassin’s bullet, and the resulting gore would have tested Quentin Tarantino. Naturally, within minutes of leaving the field, Curry returned with a head bandage held by black masking tape. Curry made 19 tackles, the blindside flanker Mark Wilson just one behind. If this win had unsung heroes, it was this pair.
Get Carter is arguably Michael Caine’s finest film. Jack Carter was a cold, brutal, gangster, and his violence was terrifyingly matter-of-fact. Caine said he wanted to portray a criminal element that wasn’t either foolish or funny, to take the pornography out of violence, show it as it really is.
england did as much against France. The build up to this game had lingered luridly over the heaviest pack to visit Twickenham, all slow-motion collisions, and romanticised memories of big men and bigger hits. With the changes France made from the opening game that imbalance did not materialise — england’s pack were bigger — but it hardly mattered.
england’s weight, their violence, was concise and sharp, not choreographed. A Mako Vunipola hit in the opening minute; one from Courtney Lawes on Mathieu Bastareaud in the second-half that belied the criticism he rarely picks on men his own size.
Caine’s Carter never uses a flurry of punches if one will do and Jones’s england were equally economical. Their mammoth defensive effort negated France’s might and defeated them with an intelligent and effective kicking game. Not punts and penalties, but little grubbers that helped create five of their six tries. Jones described seeing Jonny May give chase as like watching a dog scurry furiously after a stick in the park. At times the contact was as fleeting as that of a hound getting a thrown balballl under control,ntrol, too. May had a hat-trick off triesti bbeforef half- time, while carrying the ball a grand total of 10 metres. economical again.
Most importantly, england appear to be working to a strategy in this campaign, a well-executed plan. France lacked that. As in Paris against Wales, so much of what they did was off the cuff. They left huge gaps at the back, again, which england happily exploited, all part of Jones’s theory about the way modern rugby has changed. Teams defend differently, he said, so england adapt accordingly. His players have certainly bought into it this season.
Heaven knows what France’s Jacques Brunel is telling his players. Conceding a penalty seven minutes in, captain Guilhem Guirado was told by referee Nigel owens: ‘You stayed, and you could have moved much quicker. You made no effort at all.’ The captain, remember, and already 5-0 down. If he wasn’t going to avoid sloppy,
lazy play, so early in the game, then when? Sure enough,en Farrell kicked successfullyfll and France were shipping points at more than one per minute, a steady tumble downhill that continued until half-time.
of course, england bandwagons have been derailed in Cardiff before. With so much clamour and expectation around england closing in on a Grand Slam in World Cup year, nothing would give Gatland and his players greater pleasure than an ambush. Yet there is little evidence of that potential, so far. Wales beat France, too, but did so from being 16-0 down in a match that saw arguably the greatest act of self-sabotage in recent sporting history. Wales and Italy tied on tries on Saturday, too.
‘ If we play like that against england, it will be embarrassing,’ said Gatland. Yet only a fool would think they will. And Jones’s england are not fools. With them, this year at least it looks a fulltime job.
ON his wedding day, Jonny May stumbled as he walked his bride out of the church.
Fortunately, he was a tad more sure-footed yesterday when he scored a hat-trick of tries to help a resurgent England rugby team thrash the French at Twickenham.
The flying wing, dubbed the fastest man in English rugby, was warmly applauded by Prince Harry as he left the field to a standing ovation.
And his wife Sophie, 28, was on hand to give the country’s latest rugby hero a congratulatory kiss on the touchline.
May scored his hat-trick inside the first 30 minutes as England steamrollered France in the Six Nations match 44-8.
The 28-year- old from Swindon once admitted to preparing for a match by listening to the theme tune to Disney’s Frozen. The Leicester Tigers winger has played 41 times for England.
He married Sophie Snook, who works as a personal trainer in Market Harborough in Leicestershire, in the Wiltshire village of Patney in July 2017. Wedding photographer Nick Church wrote how ‘Jonny lost his footing when coming back up the aisle … dragging Sophie into the front row’. Pictures showed the vicar looking alarmed as the groom stumbled into a pew.
May, who has been in a relationship with Sophie for 11 years, was state-educated at The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College in Wiltshire before attending Hartpury College, a specialist sports college. The couple have a rottweiler called Nala.
Five years ago he admitted being scared of flying – which may be a problem considering the Rugby World Cup is in Japan this year.
But given he was man of the match yesterday, the England coaching staff will be keen to do whatever it takes to coax him on to the team plane in September.
EDDIE JONES strove in vain to talk up Wales in an attempt to prevent his side from being placed on a pedestal and burdened by expectation.
Nice try, but too late. England are top of the Guinness Six Nations table with a perfect 10 as they contemplate a likely decider against Wales in Cardiff a week on Saturday.
They are title favourites — whether they like it or not. Another bonus-point win was the inevitable outcome once Jonny May had snatched a half-hour hat-trick to settle the game before half-time.
England picked up where they left off in the victory over reigning champions Ireland but this was very different from Dublin, where they had to subdue high- class opponents. At Twickenham yesterday, a famous sporting rivalry was reduced to a painful procession. It was not so much ‘Le Crunch’ as ‘ Le Crash’ with France’s campaign hitting the wall. The visitors were abject.
This was kick-and- clap rugby, but not in the old-fashioned sense. England kicked and the crowd clapped, in tribute to the hosts’ effective try- scoring formula. France left their back door open and the hosts took full advantage.
English shoulders overwhelmed Ireland in a torrent of aggressive tackling, whereas English boots saw off the feeble French.
Owen Farrell, the home captain, scored 17 points and set the tone for the shrewd, low- altitude barrage. He was aided and abetted by the other footballers in the England back line — Ben Youngs, Henry Slade and Elliot Daly. Chris Ashton joined in too.
Utilising this supply line, Jonny May filled his boots. His first try came with barely a minute on the clock and maintained England’s knack of delivering fast starts this season. It was the fifth Test in a row when Jones’s men have claimed a touch- down in the opening three minutes.
This time, the scorer was not finished — in that he kept finishing. In the 24th minute, May took a long pass from Farrell on the left and stood up Damian Penaud to score on the outside. It was the act of a man in supreme form and five minutes later he had his treble, as he chased through in pursuit of Ashton’s low kick and slid over.
Remarkably, at that stage, May had three tries from just four touches of the ball. But this was no solo show. In the first half, the whole orchestra performed in harmony. Slade was superb again — with another well-taken try and another layer of authority added to his midfield status. Just as he had done in Dublin, the Exeter centre handled the physicality of the occasion while also managing to showcase his creative class.
Up front, the absence of Maro Itoje was negated in large part by the majesty of Courtney Lawes’ work. He was aggressive on the floor and athletic in the air. The Northampton lock produced the tackle of the day when he stopped the giant Mathieu Bastareaud in his tracks.
Others were similarly assertive, in the face of heavyweight French ball- carriers. England’s flankers, Mark Wilson and Tom Curry, reprised their heroics from the previous match. They were tenacious and dynamic and relentless. Curry was bloodied from a clash of heads but he kept coming back for more. And Wilson has transformed himself from a fringe figure into a mainstay of the back row. Brad Shields and Chris Robshaw will struggle to usurp him at blindside any time soon.
One notable aspect of this match was further proof that Youngs and Daly have been revitalised by their time in camp with England. Both men came into this tournament on the back of unconvincing club form, but they are now firmly in the groove, with confidence surging.
Yet, whereas the collective performance against Ireland had come close to perfection, this time there was a drop-off. England were so settled in the driving seat by the halfway point that they flicked on the cruise control and very nearly nodded off at the wheel.
Slade had struck from a pass by Kyle Sinckler before the break to secure the bonus point, and the event lost all tension, which in turn led to a decline in English intensity and focus. The home side lost shape and composure early in the second half. They were awarded a debatable penalty try in the 50th minute when Gael Fickou was ruled to have tackled Ashton off the ball after Slade had intercepted a pass by Camille Lopez and kicked ahead. Five minutes later, Youngs took a quick tap penalty, Farrell dispatched a long punt forward and when Antoine Dupont knocked the ball over his own line, the England skipper pounced.
That was the end of the scoring, with 25 minutes to go. France thrashed around, seeking a response and a shred of pride amid the rubble, but they could not add to the first-half try by Penaud.
If this was an accurate guide to the World Cup pool- stage encounter between these teams, in Yokohama on October 12, England will surely go through to the knockout rounds, and France could find themselves knocked out.
In the meantime, England are rolling on in the direction of a title and even a Grand Slam, while France are plunging towards oblivion.