FARRELL’S ESCAPE TO VICTORY!
Captain saves sluggish England but dashing French take plaudits
ENGLAND came through a dramatic, sudden- death climax at Twickenham yesterday to clinch a second title of 2020, which was similar to the first.
They won the prize, as they did the Six Nations, but France took the plaudits.
Eddie Jones’s side escaped to victory in the Autumn Nations Cup final after trailing the underdogs from the 15th minute through to the 80th, when Luke Cowan-Dickie’s try allowed them to snatch the lifeline of extra-time.
Despite Owen Farrell missing four penalties in an uncharacteristic display of erratic goal-kicking, the captain recovered his poise and precision to land the decisive shot in the 96th minute of this tense decider — passing 1,000 Test points in the process.
There were scenes of euphoria on the pitch, fuelled by a collective sense of relief that England had avoided another final indignity, 13 months after slumping to a 32-12 defeat in the World Cup final against South Africa.
Losing yesterday would have represented a monumental upset and a devastating setback.
This was barely a shadow France side. The visitors were without more than 30 of their leading stars as a result of the club v country dispute which had weakened head coach Fabien Galthie’s hand.
This was an assortment of France’s second and third-choice players, but they rose to the occasion to take the lead and then scrap tenaciously to protect it.
France’s back- up men were awash with spirit and resilience. England supposedly held the aces all over the field, but they couldn’t make their perceived superiority count. They were not as dominant up front as they had been during pool- stage wins over Georgia, Ireland and Wales. Their lineout was repeatedly plundered by the magnificent Cameron Woki, while his Bordeaux team-mate, fly-half sorcerer Matthieu Jalibert, danced and weaved around and through the fabled England defence.
It was the impishly brilliant Jalibert who conjured a try for the equally excellent full back Brice Dulin, who exuded serene authority in the path of England’s aerial bombardment. The visitors’ No 10 darted through a gap in the 15th minute, handed-off Jamie George and threw a wonderful, tumbling pass to send Dulin scooting over for a try which Jalibert converted.
It was an act of attacking class which England could not match, hard as they tried.
Jones and his players had spoken of their determination to establish some fluency at the end of an often one-dimensional autumn campaign, but they were unable to fulfil that objective.
Instead, they resorted to kicking the ball away repeatedly — yet again. This time, they had an audience to pass judgment, and the reaction was not universally positive. While the 2,000 fans largely made their voices heard in support of the home team, there were boos in the second half as the tactical limitations of the game-plan led to frustration and exasperation.
In a telling sequence of play just before the break, England launched a brutal driving onslaught as they sought to fight back from a 13-6 deficit — after Farrell and Jalibert had traded two penalties apiece.
The home forwards pounded at the line but the France defence, which has been expertly galvanised by Shaun Edwards, held firm. England appeared reluctant to send the ball wide and take advantage of the space available. When they did seek to expand their approach later in the game, it invariably led to nothing.
There were faults with the timing of passes, or the execution, or the decision-making. In short, there is precious little rhythm and flow or attacking conviction, as Jones conceded.
The hosts had a record tally of 813 Test caps in their starting XV, compared to France’s 68, but the farcical final which this experience gulf threatened to create did not come to pass. England were unsettled by their opponents’ ability to compete physically in the contact areas, match their athleticism on the floor and in the air, and retain discipline for long periods.
Galthie’s side kicked the ball away, too, but often did more with it when the chance arose.
England had to settle for applying pressure on both the away team and the referee, Andrew Brace, who repeatedly warned Farrell to stop appealing to him.
Ultimately, the constant demands to the officials earned some return as a couple of key decisions in the closing stages paved the way for victory. A lastminute penalty, when France were leading 19-12, allowed England to wriggle off the hook. The ball was dispatched to the left corner, Jonny Hill claimed the ensuing lineout, the whiteshirted pack drove on and the predatory Cowan-Dickie spun away from the maul to touch down.
Farrell’s conversion levelled the scores. The skipper then missed a straight shot to win the match three minutes into extra-time, but he didn’t hesitate to take the next kick at goal and earned the acclaim of his team-mates when it went between the posts.
England have now finished top of the pile in both this year’s events, despite not hitting their stride. Jones has a vast array of talent at his disposal, the core elements of a winning formula in place, and plenty of fine-tuning to do.
But this was further evidence that the French giant has reawakened. They are going to be quite some team next year, never mind by 2023, when they host the World Cup. England and all the other leading nations have been warned.