Mute the triumphal music, pack away the confetti, cram the top hat back on the crown of your head. There will be no slick victory procession to a Grand Slam of five wins for France in 2025. Winning away from home is no cakewalk at international level, and the rudest of wake-up calls for Les Bleus did not have to wait for the All Blacks at Eden Park, it arrived against England at their old cabbage patch, on a dank Saturday afternoon in West London.
It was a day for U-turns and sudden reversals of fortune. Ex-Wallaby and England maestro Eddie Jones was doing duty as part of ITV’s pitchside punditry team, and his commentary was as gnomic as the woollen hat on his head. As a coach Jones is glib, outspoken, and frequently controversial. As a pundit he was precisely the opposite: considered, sympathetic and pithy to the point of cryptic. The loudest voice in the room went quiet as a mouse.
French supremo Fabien Galthié may be forced into a reassessment of aims for the July tour of New Zealand. With away fixtures in Rome and Dublin still to come, there is a realistic prospect France could finish the Six Nations with a record of three wins and two losses. Building the mentality to win away from home in a hothouse atmosphere has suddenly become a priority, up close and personal.
The head coach was right to dismiss notions his team were ‘arrogant’ after the game. But the hauteur of a selection policy which means sidelining your best players for a tour of one of rugby’s global superpowers remains.
“It’s not their [France’s] style,” he said. “They’re not at all an arrogant team.
“[But] we need more consistency in open spaces, and maybe we didn’t need to score immediately – but maybe wait for one more ruck.
“It’s part of what we do, it’s part of the work that we do. We are an ambitious team, I think we demonstrated that again tonight.”
If Galthié is serious, he will want to expose his players to a level of pressure which matches that stated ambition, and provide proof-positive, not just wishful thinking the Top 14 is an ideal preparation space for international footy.
Meanwhile England head coach Steve Borthwick will be hoping his charges have finally turned a corner. Instead of finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as they have done for the majority of their last seven matches, the men in white discovered the resolution to win a game at the death, with a try in the 78th minute. It could be a Eureka moment in the development of this England team.
England reversed their back-row selection from the game in Dublin, starting with Ben Earl in his club spot on the open-side flank and an orthodox ball-carrying number eight in Tom Willis, and shifting to the ‘three sevens’ theory in the 53rd minute, with the introduction of Ben Curry for Willis. They were all the better for it, and on this occasion, England shaded the final half hour 19-15.
There were also signs England are developing two very tidy front-row units within their matchday 23, with Jamie George sitting between Fin Baxter and Joe Heyes in the bench trio and tight-head Will Stuart confirming his progress in the starting trifecta. With Asher Opoku-Fordjour or Afo Fasogbon still to be added, maybe even within the current World Cup cycle, there is every prospect ‘solid’ will turn to ‘formidable’ in due course.
Borthwick highlighted the value of that experience in his post-match comments.
“Today, we managed to score that try at the end and push the extra pass, and they [England] did that really well,” he said.
“I think you saw Ireland’s bench last week were terrific in the way they played the second half, tactically exceptional. And I thought today we did have real impact on the bench.
“Ben Curry came on and ran so hard. I think what was also different today was that experience that came on. We saw the way Jamie George came on and added, the way Elliot Daly and added. Two guys that between them rose our caps by about 170. They increased our average age as a team by two years. But they certainly brought that intelligent experience onto the grass.”
For most English supporters, the main point of interest was always going to be how the new firm of Fin and Marcus Smith would operate in their key playmaking positions at 10 and 15. ‘Smith & Smith’ may not pull up too many trees as a marketing brand, but it did the business when it mattered out on the field.
While England’s defence looks shaky out on the edges, the pairing of Fin & Marcus at least encourages them to believe with some justification they can score more tries than their opponents. Borthwick again:
“I was delighted they kept trying to score tries today.
“I’ve said many times now, I think the point of difference with this team is going to be the way they move the ball in attack and they’ve got to keep believing in themselves.
“I don’t know how many times I need to say how much trust, faith, and confidence I have in these players. How good I think they can be.
“We scored four tries against that defence, which is a very, very good defence.”
The idea on kick returns was to drop Earl into the backfield in between the brace of Smiths, bring the ball back to the middle and have both playmakers close to the ball on the next phase.
After Earl sets up the ruck on halfway, England have successfully split the field with Fin providing a first receiver to the left, and Marcus to the right. It presents a difficult conundrum for the French defence to solve as the attack can go both ways with equal conviction.
It was however, the England lineout attack which carried the greatest creative weight as the game progressed. There was a hint of things to come at the end of the first quarter.
Two Ollies are brought into the game within two phases off a short ball: first Lawrence of Bath, then Sleightholme of Northampton, while Fin and Marcus remain fully functional in attack on the third phase deep in the opposition 22. It is something the Saint does better than his Harlequins counterpart, bringing his outsides into play while staying alive to oil the wheels further down the phase count.
The effectiveness of the Northampton 10 while play is still in structure, and the potential bonus of his playmaking relationship with Marcus, was illustrated by a deep lineout attack which should have resulted in England’s third try.
Both Smiths have already handled as the attack moved across field from left to right, then Fin straightens the line to pop George through a hole off another short ball in reverse field. Had Marcus not overrun the pass on the next phase England must have made the go-ahead score – but the attacking possibilities of the two Smiths running in tandem are amply highlighted
Two of England’s second-half tries confirmed the flowering promise of the combination.
The animation of both England playmakers running towards the open side of the field, sends both of France’s two backfield defenders [full-back Thomas Ramos and scrum-half Antoine Dupont] scuttling in the same direction. That in turn strips away the protection for Louis Bielle-Biarrey on the left edge, and Fin knows the contest between the UBB wing and Tommy Freeman is one heavily-weighted in favour of his Northampton club-mate.
The same three actors were central players in England’s game-winning score from lineout.
With replacement wing Daly swinging around from the blind side, the unfortunate Bielle-Biarrey is suddenly confronted with an impossible choice between sticking tight to Daly, or shifting out on to the threat of Marcus Smith. He gets caught in no man’s land, Fin stays within the Northampton attacking discipline and passes short, and Daly finishes the move under the posts. That was game, set and match to England.
Jones did not look like he was enjoying life much as a telly pundit, even though he was back at his second home at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. As the questions grew longer and more urgent, so his answers became more clipped and enigmatic. He was far more reticent about getting stuck into Borthwick or Galthié than he would have been had he been in direct opposition to either of them as a coach.
Both have food for thought from the events which developed at Twickenham. The brusque reality of winning away from home under intense pressure, in a hostile cauldron, will have been reinforced for France’s main man. The exposure to pressure changes even the best of people, and the potential value of France’s July tour of New Zealand was never more pointed.
Borthwick will be vastly encouraged by England’s new-found ability rescue a match they could so easily have lost, and pull it out of the fire in the last half hour, reversing the prevailing trend. His bench sparked, his replacements were timed right and the scrum was as tight as elastic. The two Smiths may not win any contests for branding, but they just may be able to play together in the same starting XV for their country. ‘When things are looking up, there is no point in looking elsewhere’.
I like your campaigning message - “make French tours great again”.
The Smith combo does look rather threatening. It looks like the way to beat England is almost to accept they will score points so you’ve gotta score more!
The redits may just outweigh the debits DW!
Regarding French coaching: Ireland started targetting England jacklers in the second half and only making playes when the jacklers were buried or on the wrong side of the ruck. Tom Curry’s influence was much reduced in the second half in Dublin. Yet France allowed him to run amok?
The three English jackals were only united in the second half at Twickers, so France had a lot on their plate when they needed to do the winning of the game.
There is something very Dan Carteresque about Fin Smith. The way he takes it to the line with soft hands and even his casual running style with a short stride. He also has that very calm, understated confidence.
Disclaimer: I'm not saying Fin Smith is anywhere near as good as the great Dan Carter. Just there is something reminiscent stylistically.
He’s a nice player, does the little things well - now he’s in let’s see how far he can go.
No Eden Park. Hamilton, Wellington, and Dunedin I think.
Eden Park tests are for South Africa and the Bledisloe.
They did that against Australia too.
France were arrogant? Where did that come from, was their an Irish reporter in the room?
Strange comment. Clive Woodward and a few other British journalists said it. It's rare to find Ireland underestimating or misrepresenting France. France have always been Ireland’s Bete Noir in the 5/6 nations.
France were nervous IMO and ill prepared for a high intensity fight in wet weather. Not arrogance, but a question mark for me on the preparation (coaching).
I don't know where the 'arrogance' jibe came from tbh, but there was some complacency I think.
The part England did better was fielding the kick and securing the ball after they scored a try late on. And good on em, it will do them a power of good. Another four tries and a BP in the basket!
A lot of focus from some on the French handling errors, bombed tries. But how many of those chances would have been cast iron tries ? Maybe only one, the Dupont spill. But even then he might have been taken in the corner. The Mauvaka spill would almost certainly not have seen him score, he had a English defender right on him. Sure, the rest might have led to tries, but from memory, and I would really need to rewatch the game, none would have seen the man who dropped the ball score.
If Ramos had kicked 100%, France would have won, but he did not. Just on Ramos, there was one ball he ran back when I thought the decision should have been a deep return kick. He was taken in his own half, gave England a chance. Think even a penalty was conceded. Be clear though, I'm not blaming Ramos for the loss.
Thought did occur to me when Colombes came on, that the game was going to get tougher for France. For a man his size, he is a poor scrummager. He was badly exposed by the AB front row in the autumn game last year. He struggled again in this game. I would think he would out of the 23 for Dublin.
That's France. Now England. I thought they rode their luck....French poor handling...really well, stayed in the fight, as they say. Then they finished clinically. Two tries from decisions to go to the corner. And that was brave after the first of three such decision yielded nothing. They also showed a lot of character to come back from that LBB try that looked to have sealed the game for France.
Good calls from you, Nick, on the back row selection, the big ball carrying 8th man. And then the success of the finishing smaller jackaling men. And you always said you felt England had something special to bring to Twickenham.
Great read. Some great discussion. Thanks, Nick.
PS. I see OJohn, as always, manages to mention Joe Schmidt in his usual tone !!
I thought that Peneaud had a clear run to the line for his drop.
He ran the ball out of his ‘22 into Earl and co and conceded a turnover Pen. This lead to the winning try. Ramos also drop kicked a ‘22 directly into touch with 5 minutes remaining on the clock versus SA in the French game. Catastrophic error.
One of the reasons Ramos is on the pitch is for his kicking. If he can’t deliver on that in the most important matches and he makes major errors late in the game then he is not the full back France needs to succeed in tournaments.
Good point about the so-called 'bombed tries' Miz. They were chances but not all scoring passes - and they were poor passes that forced the receiver to take the ball on his shoulder!
Also Marcus Smith missed a couple of gettable kicks late which would have made the win more comfortable for Eng, so arguments both ways....
My next piece on Aussie and the Lions will feature the scrums where Eng did very well indeed. Atonio struggled at the start and Colombe struggled even more at the end. Lots of work for Servat to do there.
England did everything that they hadn't been able to do hitherto - they never quit, won the final quarter and they had the last word in a tight game. Kudos to them👍
Yep, showed that courage and staying power since last years 6N imo. You have to question why he even had the loosie selections the other way round first.
I don't think Marcus Smith is robust enough to play 15 at international level. He'll get targeted for his tackling.
It's good to have 2 excellent players in one position. He should stay as a 10.
I'm surprised it wasn't an article lamenting the 'tragic' demise of Joe Schmidt ha ha.
From Dubbo to the sea, Australian rugby will be free, of the dreaded Kiwi.
I don't see Marcus as much smaller or weaker than George Furbank, so he has a shot at it if he and the coaches want. He's gutsy too - Freddie Steward is much bigger but as a last line of defence h is also a lot slower on the turn.
Well they won't and the next man will prob be his choice. See next piece!
Yep, a good one off selection to surprise the French though.
What a thoroughly entertaining, chaotic game! Galthie will be so frustrated at the bombed tries.
England did well to follow our advice on the loosies, as you say much better balance. Still made life tough for LCD though and he's not the best thrower.
BTW Smith & Smith in New Zealand is a company that replaces windscreens.
I recall a period where LCD went several games without missing a throw. He's definitely capable, hopefully he'll get back into the groove. He's had a lot of injury problems.
Yes it was 'bonkers' as the bloke on the telly said JD.
And France spilled a lot of lot points in that first half, undoubtedly. At the same time Galthie will be disappointed at the reaction he got when a few balls went down.
I was surprised Eng didn't use Willis at the front more, he's a good option for Sarries there... And good to know about the windshield rep co. They could rechristen as 'the playmakers'!
While there were certainly improvements to England, this was more a case of France playing poorly.
France put themselves in multiple scoring opportunities, and failed to score.
Had the passes stuck on just two such occasions France would have won comfortably.
I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. England beat Ireland at home last year (by one point too). Champions of the 6 Nations, that did not make them.
Teams play poorly when they feel under pressure and do not have home support to encourage them out of error.
The rest is just feeble woulda, could, shoulda. England will not mind as they have lost so many games the same way over the past few months!
You misread the French Bull, end of.
France played badly, England were much improved. If we can back it up then I'll get excited... But as you say France "should" have won. Although England were the better side in the second half and it's been a long time since England's second half performance was better than the opposition.
There were a few performances to make me optimistic:
Tom Curry - looks back to his best, between him and Underhill we have two exceptional flankers
Ben Earl - also looks to be getting back into some form, carried well
Tom Willis - gave more balance to the back row, finally we've found a proper test level number 8
Ollie Chessum - always been a skilled backrower and great lineout option but he looked much more physical and got really stuck in
Fin Smith - first half display was a struggle due to lack of experience as Borthwick has given him no opportunities, but he was so composed in the second half and made so many good calls with a balanced range of kicking passing and taking it to the line.
Henry Slade - he's struggled in a team playing a reductive gameplan but demonstrated that he's a classy operator in a team prepared to move the ball
All in all I really hope England gain some confidence and back themselves in the next match with ball in hand. I'm so sick of seeing the sort of wasteful grubber kicks that Lawrence put in which England have used far too much and with a total combined net meterage gain in the last few years of minus 1 million meters.
I felt the England forwards used the jackal in the same way as SA use scrums to win penalties and score tries from lineouts and set plays late in games. Daly appeared to be brought on for that specific set move. The jacklers are on the field, English forwards know they need to manufacture a penalty and Mitchell knows who the weak link to kick to is.
Ramos kicked that '22 straight out with five mins left versus SA in the World Cup and now decided to run straight into Earl and Co for the decisive turnover. Ramos should not be on the pitch late in major matches.
I thought England keeping the ball in play and defensive intensity on top of the weather to pile pressure on France's attacking game. It is not a coincidence that many of these passages of play ended with a French fumble.
Regardless of trips to NZ France now have experience of a high pressure match and will have experience of another in a few weeks time. Lets see if they have learned anything including learning how to learn on the hoof.
They could have run the same move at the end quite comfortably with Sleightholme on, why not?
Top 14 is not a league with high ball-in-play time, but the Prem is, so it made sense to keep ball on field even if that meant giving the French kick returners extra chances.
Ppl wonder why France looked so average after looking like world-beaters v Wales but that was exactly the point I made in the previous article. Conditions are not the same and you learn far more about the character of your players.
I expect to see a few changes v Ireland from Galthie.