The sole positive from England's loss to France
It was a humbling afternoon for Eddie Jones and England on Sunday at the Stade de France, as his side fell to a 24-17 loss.
In the build-up to the match, the vocal coach spoke of how a young French side would not be able to handle England’s physicality in the opening round of the Six Nations.
After 60 minutes, it was his own side that could not impose themselves on the opposition, trailing 24-0.
After repeatedly coming up empty-handed during many trips to the French 22, and with such a sizeable deficit, even the most optimistic of Englishmen would not have thought that their team would be able to mount a comeback.
But two pieces of individual brilliance from Jonny May gave England a sniff of victory in the final minutes of the match.
(Continue reading below…)
Eddie Jones and Owen Farrell after England’s 24-17 loss to France
With a minute remaining and trailing by ten points, the imperious Antoine Dupont’s erroneous kick gave England a chance for points in the final play of the match.
To come away with a losing bonus point is nothing short of a miracle from how England were playing, and to deprive France of four tries is equally as heroic.
Got the LBP and encouraging play at the end. Win the final four and it’s still on. Come on England
— Bones (@arj0133) February 2, 2020
Not really sure what to make of the England game! Don’t think France have been great but have dominated. But with the late bonus point I suppose it’s just job done and let’s move on. Expected a little more though… 🤭
— Lee Hamer (@1LeeHamer) February 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/sbdowson/status/1224075487862878208?s=20\
This was a game where Owen Farrell and his men should have come away with nothing, and that solitary point could be crucial not only from an English perspective but across the Six Nations.
This is tipped to be a very close Six Nations, with England coming from a World Cup final, a rejuvenated French team, Wales and Ireland with new coaches, and even Scotland looking impressive in Dublin. In what may not be a Grand Slam year, bonus points may be a precious commodity.
Could be a championship winning bonus point for #England with Ireland & Wales at home. The French did so well to not be too french until right at the end 🤦🏼♂️
— Conor Horgan (@horgan88) February 2, 2020
Disappointing start to the #SixNations despite the stronger end to the game. Feels like teams have worked out how to combat England so perhaps a new battle plan is in order for Eddie Jones. That losing bonus point may prove crucial come the end of the tournament though
— Oliver Pearman (@opearman) February 2, 2020
Got to hope France gifting us a bonus point ends up crucial… the gulf between England at their worst and best must be the widest in international rugby 🤦🏻♂️ #FRAvENG
— Chris Beck (@ChrisBecky20) February 2, 2020
While it may seem presumptuous for England fans to think that a losing bonus point could determine the Championship given their performance, the consensus is that they will not play that poorly again and some changes in selection could bring different results.
However, if they produce the same performance against any other side as they did in the first half at the Stade de France, the chances of winning will be over very soon.
Taking that bonus point home from Paris might prove very important for England. Wide open this tournament #FRAvENG #sixnations
— OllyWallaceRugby🏉 (@TMR_Olly) February 2, 2020
I’ve got a horrible feeling that England’s losing bonus point, which came from the French scrum half kicking it out early, will win them the six nations title by a point. #SixNations #FRAvENG
— Rhys (@1Rhys_Dave) February 2, 2020
Never been happier to get a losing bonus point.
That was pretty awful from England. It was like playing an out of tune piano where the keys are in the wrong order. #SixNations— Conor Ratcliffe (@ConorRatcliffe) February 2, 2020
The Six Nations is wide open, but a losing bonus point means England may not be on the back foot as much as they perhaps should be. With Ireland and Wales set to visit Twickenham, they could yet redeem themselves in what promises to be a Championship defined by fine margins.
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Comments on RugbyPass
I’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
140 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
140 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
140 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
140 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
140 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
140 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
140 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
140 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
140 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
140 Go to commentsHo hum.
140 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
140 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
140 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
140 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
140 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
140 Go to comments