England outmuscle the world champions
GLOUCESTER flanker Aaron Hinkley produced a dynamic display as England grabbed their first victory of the current Six Nations campaign at Sandy Park.
Hinkley was outstanding throughout in this bonus point win, carrying with real menace, competing with hunger at the rucks and generally making life a nightmare for the French forwards.
He and the rest of the England pack ripped the visitors apart in the scrum, pressurising them into endless scrum penalties and having three men sent to the sin-bin due to the one-sided nature of the contests.
It was some revenge for losing last year’s World Championship final to France who also lifted last year’s Six Nations title.
Wing Ollie Sleightholme, No.8 Tom Willis and prop Olly Adkins grabbed tries while Welsh referee Craig Evans also awarded the hosts two penalty tries in front of a noisy and frenzied Sandy Park crowd.
Hinkley said: “It was not so much revenge but it was nice to right some wrongs. Losing to France last year in that final was bitterly disappointing but we have moved on since then and it’s about here and now.
“We deserved this win. We were the better team for most of the contest and our dominance paid off.
“To beat a strong French side like that was an outstanding effort by everyone but the front five were especially outstanding.
“The atmosphere was excellent and the crowd drove us on. Losing to Ireland last week was not the way we wanted to start but we want to build on this performance and keep improving for the rest of the tournament.”
England dominated the scrums although the lineout was poor, losing four of their throws. But French indiscipline cost them dear and they were always fighting a losing battle after trailing 24-12 at the break.
England struck the first blow after three minutes with Sleightholme cruising over in the right corner after Tom Willis and Sam Maunder had combined.
It was an ill-tempered game with constant flareups between the two packs, mainly due to the French frustration at being outmuscled and out-performed by their rivals in white.
Referee Evans showed real patience with France as they conceded scrum penalty after penalty, but eventually he awarded the hosts the first of their penalty tries while sending loosehead Jean-Baptiste Gros to the sin-bin.
France struck back despite being down to 14 men with No.8 Jordan Joseph catching his rivals napping at a ruck. He reached down, grabbed the ball and went straight over it to ground the ball for a cleverly taken try.
England’s forwards continued their scrum destruction and Willis swooped for a try at the back of a scrum as it mauled its way across the French line again.
France replied with vigour and centre Julien Delbouis twisted and turned before forcing his way over for a fine converted try. England’s forwards broke through again with prop Gloucester prop Adkins ploughing over for a try from close range.
Hinkley’s bull-dozing run and Joel Kpoku’s ferocious tackle gave England more momentum and also a second penalty try for France ollapsing the maul.
France lost lock Florent Vanverberghe to the bin and then prop Akim Bouzhier followedf him for maul and scrum offences.
The sin bin fever was catching and England lost Saracens lock Kpoku for also pulling down a maul as Evans this time awarded the visitors a penalty try.
France had a late Vincent Pinto try ruled out for obstruction, costing them a losing bonus point and captain Arthur Vincent admitted: “We knew it was going to be an extremely tough match but the defeat is still very frustrating.”
England coach Steve Bates enthused: “To say the forwards were immense is an understatement. They never stopped from start to finish. It was a very accomplished display from them and all the lads.”