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This has been a stunningly unpredictable Six Nations but no one saw this astonishing final reel coming. While France may have clinched the trophy for the second successive year England came within seconds of spoiling their pulsating last night party in a see-sawing game for the ages. In the end the hosts needed a last-gasp penalty from Thomas Ramos to secure the trophy, dashing Irish hopes of a sensational title heist.
It will go down among the most extraordinary chapters in the 120-year history of this fixture, ultimately securing back-to-back titles for France for the first time since 2007. They were particularly indebted to the brilliant Louis Bielle-Biarrey who surpassed himself by scoring four tries, condemning England to four losses in the same championship season for the first time in 50 years.
It also means that, statistically, this is England’s worst campaign since the Five Nations became Six but at the final whistle no one was dwelling on that. England had dramatically edged ahead courtesy of a 76th-minute try by Tommy Freeman only to concede one last penalty at a ruck 45 metres on the angle from their own posts. The outcome of the whole championship rested on Ramos’s shoulders but, to his credit, he never looked like missing.
Driven on by two tries from the outstanding Ollie Chessum, it was rough on England in the end. They were unrecognisable from the stuttering side who had lost to Scotland, Ireland and Italy and, as a result, may well have extended Steve Borthwick’s tenure as head coach. This has not been an easy tournament for players or coaches but they signed off here with their heads held high.
What a head-spinning night it was all round. Before kick-off, to mark this special anniversary edition of Le Crunch, there was even a spectacular son et lumiére show complete with horses, fireworks and a faintly bemused-looking Frédéric Michalak. And then out trotted the home side in a special edition pale blue jersey that cried out for a memorable performance to complement it.
Within seven minutes the crowd had already been presented with a sparkling accessory. Bielle-Biarrey never needs a second invitation to chase a well-judged kick ahead and, with Cadan Murley hesitating fractionally, the prolific French winger nipped in to poach a typical score and become the first man to register a try in every championship game in successive seasons.
England, though, were looking much brighter in attack and were rewarded with a slick try finished wide on the right for Tom Roebuck. Their satisfaction proved short-lived as another French cross-field chip found acres of space and Bielle-Biarrey, once again, ruthlessly did the rest.
It felt ominous but England were displaying a whole lot more energy and urgency, rather than settling for a slow march to oblivion. They were also causing problems with nicely-judged kicks in behind and, from Ben Spencer’s low grubber, the pacy Murley was quickest to reach the bouncing ball.
The Harlequins winger was having rather less joy at the other end, almost being embarrassed when Matthieu Jalibert snuck in to challenge for another bouncing ball and very nearly claiming an unlikely try. Instead the next try went to England after a prolonged driven maul eventually gave Chessum the platform to dive past the stretched cover. Fin Smith’s conversion made it 17-17 with the game not yet half an hour old.
While Fabien Galthié had taken his team to watch ballet rehearsals of Romeo and Juliet at Opéra Garnier in the buildup, England had clearly been using more traditional forms of motivation. Again they came thundering forward with real intent towards the left corner and this time it was the busy Chessum who turned provider, slipping an inside ball to the supporting Alex Coles who duly registered the visitors’ fourth try.
Just about everything was going England’s way. Even when the ball toppled off the kicking tee, Smith calmly picked it up and successfully drop-kicked the angled conversion instead. A further penalty made it 27-17 but France were not finished, benefiting from a penalty try on the stroke of half-time which also resulted in Ellis Genge being sent to the sin-bin for pulling down a close-range maul.
It meant England had equalled the Six Nations record for most cards received in a campaign and, once again, left them at a numerical disadvantage at a key stage of the contest. France were swift to exploit it, carving the visitors open through the middle before Antoine Dupont’s long pass put Bielle-Biarrey over for his hat-trick within two minutes of the restart.
Still, though, France could not entirely relax even when Théo Attissogbe, alone on the right wing, touched down their fifth try with England still down to 14 players. That might have been that but nailing down the coffin was proving tricky, as illustrated when a galloping Chessum intercept saved a near certain try at one end and resulted in five points at the other.
France couldn’t possibly blow it, could they? That possibility loomed even larger when England, further invigorated by the arrival of several replacements, spun the ball left and Marcus Smith knifed over to put England back in front. This was edge of the seat stuff, regardless of your nationality.
France, though, still had Bielle-Biarrey who outpaced the cover yet again to score his fourth, with Ramos converting. Freeman’s score briefly threatened one of the all-time plot twists but at least here was belated proof there is a more than decent England team attempting to get out.
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