May masterclass in vain as England battered in France
Jonny May’s solo masterclass saved England from humiliation in Paris as one of the worst performances of the Eddie Jones era ended in a 24-17 defeat that puts a large dent in their Guinness Six Nations title ambitions.
Jones had promised France “brutal physicality” but instead it was his rattled World Cup runners-up who fell victim to a ferocious onslaught as words that had caused controversy on this side of The Channel came back to haunt him.
Les Bleus stormed 24-0 ahead when captain Charles Ollivon ran in the second of his two tries in the 55th minute and that was the cue for May to conjure a pair of devastating solo tries.
For the second he beat five defenders while plotting a diagonal line to the posts in a score made possible by his extraordinary pace.
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WATCH: Head Coach Gregor Townsend and Captain Stuart Hogg hold a press conference at Aviva Stadium in Dublin following a loss against Ireland in the Six Nations Championship.
May’s brilliance provided temporary inspiration but England lacked the firepower to make further inroads into the deficit in an improved final quarter they controlled and that finished with Owen Farrell landing a penalty to claim the bonus point.
A rain-swept Stade de France noisily greeted the new era launched by their head coach Fabien Galthie and the influence of his assistant Shaun Edwards was stamped all over the defensive heroics.
England, meanwhile, will lick their wounds as they come to terms with the possibility their World Cup final rout by South Africa last autumn may have left deeper scars than initially expected.
PLAYER RATING 🏴
– @alexshawsport rates the English players after a resounding loss in Paris 👨💼 #FRAvENG https://t.co/EDe9CfFJ3Z
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 2, 2020
For the first time since 1988 they were held scoreless at the interval in a Championship match and it is hard to imagine a worse start as they were breached in the sixth minute by Vincent Rattez.
Once an initial attack had collapsed through Kyle Sinckler’s knock-on, Teddy Thomas stormed into the 22 after skilfully evading Sam Underhill and Rattez took advantage of a weak tackle by Ben Youngs to slip over.
England’s scrum ascendancy offered a foothold in the game but otherwise they were being beaten at every turn in an alarming opening quarter that deteriorated further when Romain Ntamack added a penalty to his conversion.
57' | FRA 24 – 7 ENG
TRY | @J0nnyMay collects his own chip and chase to score England's first try. Con Farrell.#FRAvENG #CarryThemHome #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/zyAxu7YMdM
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 2, 2020
Manu Tuilagi left the field in the 16th minute, although there was no obvious sign of injury, and soon after France went over for a controversial second try through Ollivon.
Ollivon challenged for a kick and it was unclear whether its struck him or Courtney Lawes before falling to Rattez who sped forward before supplying his openside with the scoring pass.
England disputed the try, saying the ball had hit Ollivon’s arm, but referee Nigel Owens disagreed and they only had themselves to blame as they stopped playing in anticipation of the decision that went ultimately went against them.
France score. Stade de France goes wild. @FranceRugby are on a roll in Paris#FRAvENG #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/7jVcBqB3wD
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 2, 2020
Underhill was smashed backwards in the tackle, George Furbank’s shaky debut continued with another knock-on, Sinckler split forward and then Farrell snatched clumsily at a pass as errors compounded at a ferocious rate.
It was making attack an impossibility and the cascade of mistakes continued as Youngs ended a promising spell by being penalised for holding on before a needless free-kick was conceded at a line-out.
Jones questioned at the start of the week how France’s young team would cope with the pressure, but it was his players who looked powerless as events unfolded around them.
Full time here in Paris and France have won after a disappointing performance from England.
Match report to follow. pic.twitter.com/M9yUHvCuLh
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 2, 2020
The second half started with a sustained onslaught on the French line that almost saw Maro Itoje go over but the defence held firm.
Pressure continued to build on the home whitewash, however, with Jonathan Joseph almost slipping over only to be stripped of the ball by Virimi Vakatawa.
With the immediate danger averted, France rallied superbly and when Antoine Dupont raced free on the outside to evade Youngs, Ollivon arrived in support to score their third try.
France score. Stade de France goes wild. @FranceRugby are on a roll in Paris#FRAvENG #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/7jVcBqB3wD
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 2, 2020
Owens spoke to both captains after a large fight broke out in the wake of the touch down and England were finally off the mark when May beat Thomas to his own grubber.
Better yet was to come from May as he switched on the afterburners to leave a trail of French defenders in his wake for his second, setting up a nervy climax to the afternoon.
George Kruis almost forced his way over under the posts and England continued their assault on the line, but apart from a stoppage-time penalty by Farrell that secured the bonus point, France kept them out.
Press Association
Comments on RugbyPass
An 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 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 commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments