Six Nations: England pluck victory from chaos against France
2025-02-09
Category: sports

"Make some noise for your England!"The pitchside hype man needn't have worried. The 81,000 inside Allianz Stadium had been doing exactly that for the final rounds of an epic, see-sawing contest and weren't about to stop as Maro Itoje, Tom Curry and their battle-battered team-mates used their last drop of energy to salute the stands.There was jubilation, vindication and a fair bit of relief in the decibels.England fans are used to their teams putting them through the wringer.Three tries in the final 10 minutes? The lead swapping hands faster than an ambidextrous dog-walker? This is standard fare in the wild, wild south-west of London nowadays.The last Six Nations match here was a victory over Ireland settled by a Marcus Smith drop-goal at the death.In the autumn, George Ford was the width of a post from doing the same to New Zealand.A week later against Australia, the Wallabies won a 79-point, 10-try rafter-ripper on the final play.Some of the Twickenham scripts would have been shredded as too outlandish by a telenovela writers' room.But, after six defeats in their past seven Tests, an England victory was the oh-so welcome twist this time around.Finally, England have the salve of victory to ease some tired bodies and minds.The hosts' effort and commitment has been evident through that rotten run. Perspiration has come by the gallon. Inspiration coming in far shorter measures has been the problem.This wasn't loads in this performance either.France, who carried further and made more line breaks, were the more consistently dangerous.They were also criminally - and crucially - casual in their handling. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, scorer of two tries, butchered another with a nonchalant pass slung over the top of Peato Mauvaka.Damian Penaud juggled and spilled a dolly.Even in the build-up to their opening try, Mauvaka carelessly dropped the ball out his back pocket.
"We got the oopsies, didn't we?" said France defence coach Shaun Edwards afterwards."Every time we got near the tryline, we seemed to just drop the ball."I've never seen that happen before. The French lads are normally magnificent handlers of a rugby ball."The oopsies might translate to some rather sterner, sweary debrief behind closed doors.None of that will matter to England though.For once, the what-ifs are for someone else to chew over.Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, for them, this guts-and-grit victory will look beautiful from every angle.It wasn't a cunning plan coming together.The final quarter, with momentum sloshing one way then the other, was too chaotic for that. It resisted order and planning.All England could do was attempt to cling on and find a way. It called for bloody minds inside cool heads.And with the clock clicking past 79 minutes England, with their replacements and rookie fly-half to the fore, delivered.Jamie George found fellow finisher Ollie Chessum with a knee-knocker of a line-out throw.Centre Ollie Lawrence fixed the first pod of defenders.Fin Smith delayed his pass a crucial microsecond to allow Elliot Daly, gleaming in his fresh white shirt having only left the bench three minutes earlier, to slice through on a delicious wrap-around line.
Fin Smith's post-match reading of the performance was as accurate as that dissection of the France defence."It was far from perfect but, my God, that group fought hard today," he said afterwards."We kept giving ourselves another shot and, we got ourselves over the line in the end."Borthwick's big calls came good. As is the way of the coach, they only lead to more.Is Fin Smith, who grew into the game after a tentative first half, to be handed the keys to 10 on a permanent basis?Is Marcus Smith, who escaped an aerial examination from France, a full-time full-back?Does swapping between the two, depending on the opposition, work? Or undermine the consistency the coach has always emphasised?Scotland, who have won the past four meetings with England and not lost at Twickenham since 2017, will pose plenty more as well in a fortnight.For an evening at least, though, all those can wait. There is no inquest to be staged, only a scoreline to celebrate.England made some noise of their own with this win. The rest of the Six Nations will sit up and take note.