Farrell holds his nerve as England fend off French resistance in thrilling final
England needed extra time to lift the inaugural Autumn Nations Cup with a 22-19 win over France in front of 2,000 fans at Twickenham.
Sudden death was ushered in when Luke Cowan-dickie finished a driving maul with 29 seconds of regular time remaining, Owen Farrell kicking the conversion to set up a grandstand finish
Farrell had kicked poorly from the tee and he squandered an early chance to snatch victory when he hit the right upright.
England finally broke the deadlock when a penalty won by Maro Itoje was dispatched by Farrell.
Having bullied their way through the autumn, Eddie Jones' Six Nations champions hit a blue wall as France faced them down at every turn.
Directed by Matthieu Jalibert, Les Bleus showed intent in attack for an opening half-hour they controlled, and when asked to defend, they rolled up their sleeves.
Brice Dulin was set up by Jalibert to cross in the 16th minute, while the boot of Jalibert and Louis Carbonel did the rest as they threatened to upstage their rivals before running out of steam.
England hardly existed as an attacking force, and while Jones had talked about learning the lessons of last autumn's World Cup final defeat to South Africa, they appeared out of sorts here.
An agreement between France and their clubs meant head coach Fabien Galthie was without 25 internationals, resulting in the selection of a team containing only 68 caps.
Arrayed against them in the greatest mismatch in experience in Test history was England's most seasoned line-up of all time, their 813 caps containing 13 survivors from the World Cup final.
Yet right from the start it was clear France were relishing the chance to stage one of the biggest upsets in the rivals' long history.
England benefited from the whistle early on as Farrell landed a penalty, but in the fifth minute they were carved open by a brilliant Jalibert run.
Taking advantage of broken play from a chaotic line-out, Jalibert spied a half gap and shrugged off a tackle by Jamie George and evaded Farrell before sending Dulin over.
Jalibert's conversion found the mark before Elliot Daly replied with a penalty, but it was far more than a game from the kicking tee as the fast pace swept from end to end.
France strung phases together and were at their most dangerous as they used short passes to create gaps, with Jalibert pulling the strings.
Two J ali bert pen alties made it 13-6 before they withstood a sustained barrage on their line.
Daly stepped into a dangerous position and Jonny May almost burst free as England started the half with a flourish, ending with a Farrell penalty.
Even limited to 2,000, the crowd voiced their distaste for a lengthy spell of kicking but, when France looked to break free, Jalibert's pass to Alivereti Raka landed on the wing's feet.
Ford and Daly combined to set up a half chance for Anthony Watson as play unfolded in the opposition half with increasing regularity.
As Farrell floundered in front of the posts, replacement fly-half Carbonel was on target, before the England man finally readjusted his sights.
But Carbonel rifled over his second after an explosive run by Raka set up field position.
With 29 seconds left, Cowan-dickie swept England over, setting up the nail-biting end.