France player ratings vs England
France player ratings: Galthie’s team of athletic, young Frenchman might have been light in experience but they made up for it with attacking accuracy, dynamism and aggression.
What is clear is that defensively, Shaun Edwards has had a big effect on this team.
ANTHONY BOUTHIER 8
Looked assured with his first touch of the ball and again in the 8th minute when clearing the French lines after an unsympathetic pass from Thomas. Eddie Butler nearly wet himself with his enormous clearance in the 26th minute. A real find.
TEDDY THOMAS 7
His 10 metre carry in the 5th minute sent England into panic mode and it ultimately led to France’s first try. The only blot(s) in his copybook were getting beaten for pace by Jonny May not once, but twice.
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WATCH: England player Tom Curry and coach Simon Amor give a press conference ahead of England’s first Six Nations game against France.
VIRIMI VAKATAWA 6
Not his most exciting day at the office. He’s Europe’s form attacking threat, but these conditions didn’t suit him. Played his part in defence.
GAËL FICKOU 6
A relatively quiet first half for the now veteran centre. Largely defensive sound alongside Vakatawa.
VINCENT RATTEZ 8
A late replacement for Penaud, but if there were any nerves they weren’t on show. The lithe wing brilliantly handed off Ben Youngs for the opening try. Unlucky not to grab the intercept in the 67th minute, which would have killed off the game.
ROMAIN NTAMACK 7
The Toulousain kicked well from hand and from the tee. You have to remind yourself that he is a 20-year-old. Did he look a little uneasy when England started to come back into the game in the last 25 minutes? Maybe.
ANTOINE DUPONT 8.5
His electric breaks caused all sorts of problems for England. The fact that he stayed on for the full 80 minutes shows how much Galthie rates him. Huge hit on Willi Heinz in the 77th minute was the cherry on top. His time keeping needs work.
CYRIL BAILLE 7
Carried exceptionally well early on. The French scrum started going backwards when he went off.
JULIEN MARCHAND 6
After a wobbly start he got to grips with the lineout. Keeping Camille Chat’s seat warm.
MOHAMED HAOUAS 6
Played his part in bullying England’s pack, both in the tackle and at the set-piece.
BERNARD LE ROUX 7
Has played for France in both the second-row and back-row. Was a vital cog in the French pack’s muscular defence and dominated his collision more often than not. The only argument against him in the secondrow is that it lowers France’s size.
PAUL WILLEMSE 6
The massive South African is renowned for his brutal short carries, but was the Montpellier lock was kept relatively quiet by England’s pack. Spilt the ball on occasion.
FRANCOIS CROS 7.5
Bossed and harried England at the lineout, his 24th minute steal a standout moment.
CHARLES OLLIVON (CAPTAIN) 8.5
The athletic French captain was everywhere. Part of a trend in France towards tall, athletic French backrows and easily had to pace to take his 19th-minute try. A few spills in the rain are completely forgivable. Magnificent.
GREGORY ALLDRITT 8.5
He made a replacement appearance at number eight for Louis Picamoles in the 24-19 Six Nations
defeat by Wales at Stade de France nearly exactly a year ago, and has made the shirt his own. Seems to always make metres in contact. His 32nd minute turnover on the French line was a turning point.
REPLACEMENTS:
PEATO MAUVAKA 4
All he managed was a lineout over-throw in the 13 minutes he was on the field. In his defence France were coming apart at the seams at that stage.
JEFFERSON POIROT 7
Was excellent when he came on early in the second half. Won two penalties, which were priceless in the wet conditions. However, the French scrum was under serious pressure in the second half.
DEMBA BAMBA 5.5
As Paul O’Connell suggested, a fit Bamba will be a sight to see for the rugby world. However, the French scrum deteriorated in the second half, and he has to take some of the responsibility for that.
BORIS PALU 6
Replaced Willemse in the secondrow. Pounced on a loose ball in the 71st minute which was crucial.
CAMERON WOKI 6
The 21-year-old didn’t shy away from work when he came on.
BAPTISTE SERIN NA
MATTHIEU JALIBERT NA
Not on long enough to rate.
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments