What a show as Engand throw off the shackles
IT TOOK until the fourth round, but England finally rose to the occasion, snatching this riveting cut-and-thrust game with a close-range try by Maro Itoje five minutes from time.
That not only spiked French Grand Slam hopes, it fired an important reminder to the 2023 World Cup host nation that while they undoubtedly have a very talented team, there are enough quality players in the Red Rose ranks to spoil their party again.
The problem England have is that they have become maddeningly inconsistent, although that charge could not be levelled at them at Twickenham yesterday as they delivered a full-throttle 80 minute performance for the first time in this Six Nations.
They nudged ahead of France when it counted in the final ten minutes, and having matched them for pace and intensity throughout, appeared to have marginally more left in the legs and lungs department than the visitors.
England also kept their nerve, and their discipline, and it meant that having kicked for the corner from a penalty six minutes from time they were able to turn around a 20-16 deficit.
When Charlie Ewels claimed Jamie George’s throw, England launched a punishing driving maul at the line, and refused to be deterred when France finally managed to pull it down. Instead, Will Stuart
went into pick-and-drive mode, and after the bench tighthead was hauled down just short, Itoje shrugged off the lactic acid – and the tackles of Cameron Woki and Teddy Thomas – to ground the ball just over the line.
The French tacklers’ attempts to stop Itoje nearly paid off with referee Andrew Brace announcing that his on-field decision was no try, before referring it to the TMO, Joy Neville.
Neville ruled that the England lock had scored, and with Owen Farrell converting to give England their eventual winning margin, they had three minutes to keep the French at bay.
They managed to do so, even without the help of a Twickenham crowd which at this stage would have raised the roof.
They would also have applauded a France side which ran out of steam late in the second half, having played some sublime rugby.
If there was any wishful thinking in the England ranks about France, or Antoine Dupont, failing to live up to their pre-match hype, they evaporated almost instantly when the French attacked on the blindside of a ruck with a minute on the clock.
Teddy Thomas chipped over the head of Max Malins, and while the jackknife bounce eluded all the England chasers it did not evade the razor-sharp reactions of Dupont, with the French scrum-half flicking the ball forward, catching it and touching down.
There was one minute 14 seconds on the clock as Matthieu Jalibert kicked the conversion to give France a 7-0 dream start.
It drew an immediate response from England with two full-tilt Tom Curry carries, before Mark Wilson was held up over the line. Then a frantic attack was halted just short, and first-start fullback Malins was hustled into passing into touch. England re-set – and their next assault was lethal.
Mako Vunipola was used to make a pivot-pass with his back to the opposition, allowing Henry Slade to spear almost to the line.
The quick recycle gave George Ford enough time and space to find Anthony Watson with a clear run-in and the winger scampered over to celebrate his 50th cap with his 22nd Test try.
With Farrell converting from the touchline it was 7-7, and with France quickly conceding two penalties the England inside centre hit the target both times to make it 13-7 midway through the half.
In between the penalties there were two moments which emphasised the willingness of both sides to cut loose in attack. First, French hooker Julien Marchand took off like a stampeding buffalo on a 25 metre charge into the England 22.
Then a cameo of virtuoso brilliance from Watson combined betwitching footwork and pace as he sliced through the French defence in a 40 metre burst which ended with a chipand-chase which Jalibert managed to scramble clear.
Jalibert came within a whisker of grounding a crafty Dupont kick only for it to deflect off his knee across the dead ball line. However, a previous penalty call meant Jalibert did not go away emptyhanded, and his kick narrowed the gap to 13-10 – just before France scored the best try of the match.
It came just after the halfhour when a long lineout throw over-the-top saw Gael Fickou link with Dupont.
His pass allowed the quicksilver Jalibert to hit the accelerator, and as the fly-half got on the outside of Farrell he threw a perfect lofted pass which put Damian Penaud over.
Jalibert’s touchline conversion saw France in the driving seat at 17-13 going into half-time.
They came close to scoring again two minutes before the interval when Thomas beat Watson on a postage stamp to race into the England 22, but Curry, who had an outstanding match, won a crucial turnover penalty.
England not only counted their blessings at half-time but also came out
for the second half with a clear plan of denying France territory, and although a Jalibert penalty from a rare Itoje ruck offence saw them increase their lead to 20-13, it paid off.
As the pressure mounted France started to tightenup, and when Farrell punished an Ollivon lineout infringement to trim the deficit to 20-16, their growing anxiety was evident when Brice Dulin attempted a drop-goal from near halfway which only just cleared the England 22.
Then came England’s final push, and with Itoje’s try the heavy load of a campaign in which this team has seriously underperformed was lifted from their shoulders – and that of their head coach, Eddie Jones.
When Jones was asked a couple of days before this match about how he was bearing up under the pressure he responded with typical bombast: “I’m loving it mate. These are the best times for coaches, they are the times when you really earn your money.”
Before the match England and Jones had looked on the brink of bankruptcy. Now they at last have some credit in their current account, and can go to Dublin to take on the Irish with a spring in their step.