England dash French Grand Slam hopes with late Maro Itoje try
Maro Itoje crashed over for a late try as England seized a dramatic 23-20 victory over France to begin their Guinness Six Nations redemption process. Les Blues led 20-16 until the 76th minute when Itoje bulldozed over the whitewash from short range and with Owen Farrell rifling over the conversion, they had edged the tournament favourites.
It was England’s best performance of the tournament by a distance, full of endeavour and flashes of clinical execution, with Henry Slade and Tom Curry excelling. Enabling them to go toe-to-toe with the favourites – at least initially – was their improved discipline and having given away 41 penalties across the opening three rounds, they escaped the whistle of referee Andrew Brace until the 25th minute.
A week spent addressing their self-destructive streak appeared to have paid off, but it proved a stubborn Achilles heel as old failings re-emerged in a cagey second-half where avoiding mistakes became paramount.
Some of France’s play was irresistible, especially for Damian Penaud’s try, but they also displayed the hard edge needed to take the 108th instalment of ‘Le Crunch’ to the death.
It was not enough to stop England escaping further Six Nations misery, however, after two defeats had place head coach Eddie Jones under mounting pressure. In the latest in a succession of dismal starts, England conceded the first try after only 65 seconds when wing Teddy Thomas chipped over full-debutant Max Malins and Antoine Dupont arrived to gather and touch down.
?? That's @FranceRugby at its very best.
Enjoy this one, rugby fans. #GuinnessSixNations #ENGvFRA pic.twitter.com/lw8oJANcnM
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 13, 2021
It was the sixth match in a row where they have leaked the opening try, but on this occasion their response was immediate and emphatic. Henry Slade contributed two big carries as pressure built on the French line and the second charge by the Exeter Chief was pivotal, creating the space for George Ford to send Anthony Watson over in the 11th minute.
England were displaying the attacking intent shown in Cardiff a fortnight earlier as Watson effortlessly slid into space and for once it was the opposition who were being punished by the referee as Farrell landed two penalties.
In control of every department of the game, Jones’ fallen champions were playing some of their best rugby seen since the 2019 World Cup but when they eventually conceded their first penalty, France took control.
Matthieu Jalibert was on target from the kicking tee before an attacking line-out saw the fly-half combine brilliantly with Julien Marchand, the dazzling movement in midfield creating the space for Penaud to cross.
It was now France who were storming into rucks and running hard at half-openings to pin England in their 22 and threaten another try. Kyle Sinckler knocked on at the end of a muscular thrust through heavy traffic to end a breathless first half full of quality play, with France marginally on top with a 17-13 lead.
Two trips to the visiting 22, the second after a sharp break by Ben Youngs, got England moving again but each time the attack ended in a penalty and when France entered their half, they infringed again to allow Jalibert to kick Les Bleus seven points clear before Farrell responded to increase the tension in blustery conditions at Twickenham.
The third quarter was balanced on a knife edge and in a worrying sign, Brace was punishing them with increasing frequency. France were piling on pressure once more but they fell apart at the scrum and the pendulum swung again.
England’s bench were making a real difference, especially Elliot Daly who glided into space with ease armed with a point to prove after being dropped for Malins. And the crucial blow was delivered by Itoje in the closing stages as he used his power to score a vital try.
Redemption for @EnglandRugby.
A fantastic performance and a hard-fought victory. #GuinnessSixNations #ENGvFRA pic.twitter.com/zXlEzfQxT3
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 13, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
29 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
29 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
29 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments