ENGLAND POWER HOME IN THRILLER
Itoje secures triumph over French artistry as the men in white banish the blues
AT the end of the match, Eddie Jones offered to get out his RFU credit card and buy the groundsman a beer. In a game of fine margins, it was the extra millimetre of crisp Twickenham grass that allowed Maro Itoje to wrestle over and ground the ball with the faintest of touches.
‘No try’ was the referee’s on-field decision, before he was overruled by the television match official in the 77th minute.
As the decision was confirmed, the roars of relief said it all.
England’s title quest ended a fortnight ago, but Itoje’s match-winning score saved their Six Nations campaign from disaster, and banished a closing week of bloody inquests.
While Jones was toasting the groundsman, rugby’s powerbrokers were chinking their glasses at a match that should add a few pounds to the negotiations over a new TV-rights deal.
If ever there were an advert for the Six Nations to remain on terrestrial television, this was it. It was a spectacle that could capture the attention of the most fair-weather of audiences.
The likes of Antoine Dupont and Mathieu Jalibert lived up to their billing as box-office gold. France’s attack was loaded with Gallic artistry but, in the closing stages, they proved to be a few brushstrokes short of a masterpiece.
Dupont required no introduction. He arrived at Twickenham billed as the miniature Jonah Lomu and, within 65 seconds, had already breached the English defence to score. Jones spent the week highlighting his threats, yet England could not stop him. By the time of the 2023 World Cup, the 24-year-old could be on a pedestal of his own as the sport’s standout player.
However, for England, it was all about the here and now. A salvage operation after embarrassing defeats by Scotland and Wales.
During their captain’s run, France lineout coach Karim Ghezal told his players that they could ‘walk all over England’. Tom Curry and Co had not got his message.
After weeks of scorn and criticism, England showed their togetherness, scoring the next 13 points. Curry was the antithesis to the pretty French play, throwing himself into contact and carrying the ball like a menace.
The play was fast and loose. Stodgy performances from the Autumn Nations Cup seemed like a distant memory in the crisp spring sunshine. At some point over the long lockdown winter, England decided that the rugby ball is not in fact a ‘ticking time bomb’.
When the time called, George Ford took on the role of ringmaster, keeping the ball in hand, and launching the likes of Curry, Kyle Sinckler and Billy Vunipola like human cannonballs. Wave after wave of support runners arrived on the outside shoulder, sucking in French defenders, as England landed powerful shots.
Henry Slade showed his class by scything through the French defence and, after 10 phases,
Ford flung a pass to Anthony Watson to level the scores.
For the first half at least, England managed to stay on the right side of the referee. Owen Farrell adopted a more diplomatic approach with the officials, using passive body language, while biting his tongue with a ‘yes sir, no sir’ line of conversation.
His players met flair with fire. Without drifting offside, Itoje smashed back French runners, forcing the visitors to make the mistakes. France’s 42-stone lock pairing of Romain Taofifenua and Paul Willemse gave away clumsy penalties at the breakdown and Farrell nailed two shots at goal to give his side the lead. With all eyes on Dupont, Jalibert played the role of the silent assassin at No 10 when the visitors attacked. He kept his side on the scoreboard from the kicking tee, before playing a key role in a mesmerizing French try. Gael Fickou claimed a long overthrow at the line-out, triggering a first-phase strike move, as France launched runners from all angles to fix English defenders. Virimi Vakatawa ran a devastating decoy line, before Dupont and Jalibert applied the width to set up Damian Penaud on the right wing.
France were purring, yet they occasionally lived up to their old stereotypes. Metres away from England’s tryline, prop Mohamed Haouas conceded a cheap penalty for sealing off as Les Bleus tried to score another try before the break. Their attacking pressure was breathless and, as the clock struck 40 minutes, Ford was all too happy to kick the ball out to signal half-time.
Early in the second half, England’s discipline problems crept back. At times, they struggled to match France’s physicality at the breakdown, conceding turnovers as their penalty count moved into double figures.
Jalibert and Farrell exchanged penalties, before France once again lived up to their chaotic stereotype as Brice Dulin attempted a limp drop goal from 45 metres.
Off the field, France’s build up to this game was nothing short of disastrous. Head coach Fabien Galthie breached bubble protocols, and an outbreak of Covid meant his side had not played a Test match for a month.
Unsurprisingly, they ran out of steam in the final quarter. They have not won a Six Nations game at Twickenham for 16 years and, in the closing stages, the chance to reset the record books slipped through their fingers.
Ellis Genge, Elliot Daly and Ben Earl increased the tempo from the bench, stepping up the speed of England’s attacking game.
France’s defence scrambled to keep up and, with three minutes left to play, Itoje (left) drove over to snatch the victory. It was a forgettable, close-range try, in an otherwise unforgettable spectacle.