France inflict record defeat on England in Six Nations humbling
England were overwhelmed 53-10 by France at Twickenham in a record defeat that removed them from Guinness Six Nations title contention and delivered an alarming reality check to Steve Borthwick’s rebuilding project.
Trailing 27-3 at half-time – their highest interval deficit at Twickenham in any fixture – they were in the midst of full-blown crisis having been taken apart up front.
Thomas Ramos, Thibaud Flament and Charles Ollivon had crossed with alarming ease and England looked completely lost as fault lines opened in their defence, kicking, breakdown and discipline.
The arrival of Owen Farrell and Alex Mitchell off the bench early in the second half came amid an uprising that produced a try for Freddie Steward, but it was short-lived as Flament, Ollivon and Damian Penaud propelled France further in front.
The biggest walloping England have ever taken at Twickenham. Their third worst anywhere. France reminding us of the joy they can play this game with. A game we’ll never, ever forget. pic.twitter.com/Knj3tiD92A
— Nick Mullins (@andNickMullins) March 11, 2023
The gulf between the rivals was embarrassing as the World Cup hosts registered their first Six Nations victory at Twickenham since 2005 in a glorious return to form having laboured through much of the tournament.
And it only gets harder for Borthwick’s men as, having faced the team positioned second in the global rankings, they must travel to Dublin next Saturday to take on Grand Slam-chasing Ireland, who occupy the summit.
Marcus Smith did everything he could having ousted Farrell at fly-half, but with his forwards dismantled at every turn he was powerless to halt the collapse.
For all the talk of England playing with pace, it was France who raced out of the blocks and when lock Paul Willemse offloaded out of the tackle they were away, with Ethan Dumortier sending Ramos over in the left corner.
Ramos added a penalty to reward another Les Bleus attack and with only 10 minutes on the clock it was already looking bleak for the hosts.
England were hamstrung by their discipline at the breakdown and apart from a forceful run by Steward they were struggling to make any impression as rain began to fall.
Inroads were made through the maul but with Jack van Poortvliet fumbling again, the progress was lost and the familiar sight of France rampaging downfield resumed.
Antoine Dupont grew in influence as he weaved his magic around the ruck but it was the power of forwards François Cros and Flament that did the damage for the next try.
Flament crossed in the 26th minute but it was too easy for the lock as passive England were overpowered in contact.
And their scrum defence was horribly exposed in first-half injury-time when Gregory Alldritt charged forward and seeing blue shirts lined up in support, sent Ollivon crashing over.
England needed to act quickly and hope appeared to have arrived when Smith delivered a terrific kick on the run for Max Malins but the wing knocked-on over the line.
It was now France’s defence that was disintegrating and after waves of attacks they were breached with Steward riding a tackle to slide over.
England quickly renewed their attack but the fightback faltered when a cruel bounce deceived their backfield defence, allowing Romain Ntamack to flick the ball to Flament who scored.
And there was more misfortune when Smith was driven over his line by Dupont as he covered for a kick and Ollivon touched down when he let go of the ball before two late tries by wing Penaud drove the final nail into England’s coffin.
Comments on RugbyPass
I hope Leinster’s proud of themselves fielding a poor team. They should decide if they’re all in or not.
1 Go to commentsJordie is looking at 16 games maximum if Leinster reach both the URC and champions cup finals. Thats not guaranteed. Some of those home URC fixtures will be cakewalks as well for Leinster and there is not much doing during the 6 nations in Feb and March so he can probably get a decent rest then. He will have to really put in it for maybe 7 or 8 games max. It should be a good move for both.
13 Go to commentsThe game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
23 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
13 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
13 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
6 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
25 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
6 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to comments