Gallic swagger is back as French stride to the title
ON the Paris news racks, blanket coverage of Le Crunch pushed back the presidential election battle to page six of Le Parisien. ‘All behind Les Bleus!’ read the splash on the front page, echoing the new national buy-in to French rugby.
Fans gathered outside the stadiums wearing cockerel hats and tricolour face paint, pretending to be Antoine Dupont.
After years of Gallic indifference, this French team have won back hearts and minds. They have developed a clear identity — on and off the pitch — and transformed the Stade de France into a Saturday night disco.
Inside it fizzed with excitement. Even the resident brass band increased the tempo. As the bass reverberated around the stands during the warm-up, Gabin Villiere and Damian Penaud were peppered with high balls down the right wing. They knew what was coming.
England had the ball five times in the opening five minutes and, you guessed it, they booted it every time. They pinned France back in their own half but their work at the breakdown was woeful.
They barely contested French ruck and allowed No 8 Gregory Alldritt to win turnovers. How England missed the hustle and hounding of Tom Curry. Every pressure-relieving clearance kick by Dupont was greeted with a roar louder than the last.
When Eddie Jones undergoes the post-mortem this week, he will see a team suffering from identity crisis. England started this campaign with wondrous visions to unleash a new, enterprising attack.
They promised a brave new world but they ended the tournament with a regressive strategy to kick France’s Grand Slam bid into submission. It felt like the clock had been turned backwards.
If France suffered from fewer first-half nerves, the scoreline could have been worse for England. There were handling errors aplenty.
Gael Fickou fumbled a ball as a hole opened up in England’s defence, yet the 42-stone combination of Uini Antonio and Paul Willemse turned over the scrum. Malvyn Jaminet called for the kicking tee. 3-0 France. Freddie Steward claimed Marcus Smith’s high balls with authority, but the follow-up play was lacking. Ben Youngs failed to inject the tempo of Harry Randall and Valiere was on hand to pinch the ball back. Infringement by infringement, England’s penalty count mounted up.
Playing with a penalty advantage after Maro Itoje jumped across the lineout to challenge Cameron Woki, France had a free hit. The big forwards punched holes around the fringes of the ruck, before Valiere made hard yards down the left wing. His dummy pass sucked in Itoje, leaving an overlap outside. Romain Ntamack threw a bouncing pass to Fickou, who this time made no mistake as the stadium erupted with his opening try.
Smith registered England’s first points from the kicking tee, before George Furbank gifted France possession when he clumsily put a foot into touch. Jaminet edged the hosts further ahead with a deadeye penalty, while England persisted with their aerial onslaught.
At times, England’s attack looked dangerous. Joe Marchant made yards through midfield when he linked up with Henry Slade but England’s default position was to look to the skies. In the final play of the first half, Smith chipped the ball back into French possession.
Building from their own half, France launched carry after carry. The lack of competition at the ruck allowed France to move through nine phases in no time. Eventually, after Ntmack was desperately clung onto by Ellis Genge, Francois Cros stretched over to give France a 12-point lead at half time.
Eventually, in the second half, England showed signs of life. They turned down an early three-pointer for an attacking lineout but Sam Underhill lost the ball in contact.
In the 49th minute, Marchant broke through midfield once again, before Elliot Daly sent Steward over for a score down the right. Next try wins?
Steward claimed a massive upand-under and England flirted with a comeback. But then Fickou clinched a game-changing turnover and France came back.
They attacked from a scrum in English territory and, after a few jabs to the body, Dupont cut the haymaker support line off Aldritt’s shoulder to score.
Mission accomplished. After their victory, France’s players made their way to a jubilant boat party on the River Seine, while England left with a sinking feeling.