TWICKENHAM STADIUM — This might just be the start of something. England shocked France to end a seven-match losing run against Tier 1 nations with a gritty victory, led by fly-half Fin Smith on his first international start.
Under a rainy miasma, everything glistened – not least the ball. France’s first half was defined by handling errors from their biggest names in the biggest moments. There was one each from Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Antoine Dupont and Damien Penaud, all with fresh west London air between them and glory. This was uncharacteristic and a tad unlucky, and could have had France three tries up within 25 minutes.
The latter of these entries was extraordinarily brief, as George Martin bungled a theoretically simple line-out, an English trend throughout the match. Within a minute, Bielle-Biarrey was racing onto a Penaud chip and France took a lead they should have long possessed.
This ended with a series of failed close-range attempts breaking to Ollie Lawrence, via a chaotic string of handling errors which somehow didn’t go forward. Lawrence palmed off Thomas Ramos to barrel round the posts and towards parity. Having led Ireland at half-time a week earlier, England were level on 40 minutes here.
Instead, France needed two penalties to restore their lead, with Ramos making up for a poor early effort from 40 yards. But on the hour mark, England’s Northampton Saints connection came good. Fin Smith’s kick found Tommy Freeman, who outjumped two French players to cross.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( England shock France with last-minute try to kick-start Six Nations )
Also on site :