England’s hopes of making history by becoming the first team ever to win the Six Nations three times in a row were well and truly shattered on Saturday evening as they were beaten 22-16 by France in Paris.
Eddie Jones’ men, due to Ireland’s bonus point win over Scotland earlier in Dublin, went into the match knowing that in order to keep their title dreams alive they needed to score four tries and win the game.
France have been relatively poor of late, but they, like most international rugby teams are, were well up for putting one over on England. They played like men possessed and gave England no quarter. No doubt we’ll see the French of old next weekend when they take on Wales at the Principality Stadium.
England, like they did against Scotland, struggled at the breakdown against a monstrous French pack, and when you lose the breakdown in international rugby, you usually lose the match.
The visitors had a chance to nick a win at the end, but another handling error let them down and the chance went a-begging. If we’re being perfectly honest though, a win at the death would only have papered over some very large cracks that are suddenly appearing.
Next up for England is a home match against Ireland, and they will be desperate to finish on a high and deny Ireland the Grand Slam. However, lose at the breakdown again, and it could be a very long afternoon for England and their fans.
Here are how the players rated after the game.
Anthony Watson - 4
Was non-existent in attack and his high tackle that led to a penalty try and a yellow card cost England dearly.
Jonny May - 4
Scored a late try, but other than that he was pretty non-existent. Another poor game for the winger.
Ben T'eo - 3
In all the time that he was on the field, he passed the ball just twice. Absolutely criminal!
Owen Farrell - 6
Kept his head while all those around him were losing theirs – couldn’t lead his side to victory though.
Eliot Daly - 6
Scored a fantastic long-range penalty and his pass for May’s try was sublime.
George Ford - 3
Ford is out of form at the moment and his attacking play against France was too pedestrian and obvious.
Danny Care - 3.5
England have really missed Ben Youngs in this tournament. His kicking and passing game is just not good enough at the moment.
Mako Vunipola - 5
Made yards whenever he got the ball, but just did not have the support from his teammates that he needed.
Jamie George - 5
His line-out was solid, but he just didn’t have the same impact that he has when he comes off the bench.
Dan Cole - 3
Too slow and gives away far too many penalties. His time as an international player is surely coming to an end.
Joe Launchbury - 3.5
It’s not often Launchbury has a poor game, but he has now had two in a row. He isolated himself far too often and gave away a number of penalties.
Maro Itoje - 4.5
Made a nuisance of himself in the line-out, but isn’t having the same impact in the field that he had last year.
Courtney Lawes - 3
Has been exposed as a flanker in the last two matches. This three second-row experiment just isn’t working.
Chris Robshaw - 6.5
Playing out of position, but was still England’s best player on the night. He never gave up.
Nathan Hughes - N/A
Went off in the 24th minute with a knee injury. Had no impact on the game when he was on. How England have missed Billy Vunipola.
SUB: Sam Simmonds - 4
Came on for Hughes in the 24th minute but was easily kept at bay by a beast of a French team.
SUB: James Haskell - 5
Added some impetus and got stuck in when he came on but could not help England over the line.
SUB: Kyle Sinckler - 5
Impressed when he came on and should get more game time in the future.
SUB: Luke Cowan-Dickie - 3
Fluffed an important line-out near the end and knocked on when a pass right would have won the game for England.
SUB: Richard Wigglesworth - 5.5
England looked much more threatening when Wigglesworth replaced Care.
SUB: Jonathan Joseph - 3
Was virtually non-existent when he came on.
SUB: Mike Brown - N/A
Came on with just 12 minutes to go, so didn’t have enough time to make an impact on the game.