Rampant France thrash England; Wales beat Italy
Rampant France ran in seven tries to overwhelm a ragged England 53-10 on Saturday, their biggest ever win over the English and first in the Six Nations at Twickenham for 18 years. The French also stayed in contention to win this year's title ahead of their final game against Wales, climbing to second in the standings behind Ireland. Tries by fullback Thomas Ramos, lock Thibaud Flament and flanker Charles Ollivon gave the visitors a 27-3 halftime lead. England flyhalf Marcus Smith, picked ahead of regular captain Owen Farrell, failed to get his team firing as the hosts made a slew of handling errors and gave away a succession of penalties to halt what little momentum they had in driving rain. Fullback Freddie Steward powered over soon after the interval to give England faint hopes of a comeback but fatal indecision allowed Flament to pick up a loose ball and steam over for his second try in the 57th minute. Ramos scythed through to set up the fifth French try, Smith scrambling back to retrieve the ball near the line but unable to stop Ollivon touching down. Farrell was sent on to try to improve England's defence but they rarely threatened to reduce the deficit and it was France who struck again. A fine kick by Gael Fickou set up Damian Penaud to stroll over the line and the winger quickly added his second try as the hosts crumbled. With fans streaming out of the stadium, Smith made a searing break to set up the opportunity of a consolation score but England conceded another soft penalty and France were left to celebrate a statement win ahead of this year's World Cup which they are hosting. Earlier, Wales coach Warren Gatland was left sweating over a nervous finish after a difficult second half but believes his side were full value for their 29-17 Six Nations victory over Italy in Rome. Wales led 22-3 after a dominant first-half display, but were put under pressure by the Italians in the second period as they conceded two tries and had to scramble in defence on a number of occasions against a home side who battled to finished their chances. "There’s still a number of things to work on, but we deserved to win the game," Gatland told reporters. "The second half wasn’t as good as the first. It would be nice to be in the coaching box and think the game wasn’t going down to the wire. The boys scrambled well." (Reuters)