Owen Farrell finally found his kicking boots to land a sudden-death penalty to subdue a stand-in France and win the Autumn Nations Cup at Twickenham.
Scroll on for the England vs France player ratings.
Pre-match favourites England needed a last-minute try from Luke-Cowan Dickie to take the contest to sudden death.
Farrell missed a number of easy kicks during the game, but the captain stepped up once more to nail a kick from a tricky angle to clinch the title.
More to follow.
RUCK’S MAN OF THE MATCH: Tom Curry (England)
EDITORS PICKS:
- All Black legend Dan Carter ranks his five toughest opponents
- The current 36-man Lions squad, according to the bookies
- Piers Morgan picks his all-time greatest rugby XV
- Every Premiership club’s best player out of contract in 2021
STATS ZONE:
- MOST TACKLES: Anthony Jelonch (France) – 18
- MOST MISSED TACKLES: Owen Farrell (England) – 4
- MOST CARRIES: Brice Dulin (France) – 11
- MOST METRES: Elliot Daly (England) – 101
- MOST TURNOVERS WON: Gabin Villiere (France) – 2
- MOST TURNOVERS CONCEDED: Anthony Watson (England).- 2
England vs France player ratings
England: Elliot Daly 5, Anthony Watson 5, Henry Slade 5, Owen Farrell 4 (captain), Jonny May 5, George Ford 4, Ben Youngs 6; Billy Vunipola 8, Sam Underhill 5, Tom Curry 7, Joe Launchbury 6, Maro Itoje 8, Kyle Sinckler 7, Jamie George 5, Ellis Genge 5.
France: Brice Dulin 8, Alivereti Raka 7, Jonathan Danty 7, Yoram Moefana 6, Gabin Villiere 5, Matthieu Jalibert 8, Baptiste Couilloud (captain) 7; Selevasio Tolofua 7, Anthony Jelonch 6, Cameron Woki 7, Baptiste Pesenti 7, Killian Geraci 7, Dorian Aldegheri 5, Pierre Bourgarit 6, Hassane Kolingar 6.
Jonny Wilkinson’s all-time XV is spectacularly good
BACK-THREE:
Fullback: Serge Blanco (France) – “He typified French rugby at its best with his audacity, ambition and flair. He was most famous for his scintillating counter-attacks, frequently running the ball out of seemingly impossible situations.”
Wing: Christophe Dominici (France) – “His opportunism, his flair, his game reading, his sheer explosivity to really change a game is something that sticks in my memory”
Wing: Jonah Lomu (New Zealand) – “The guy is quite a remarkable rugby legend and deserves to be so. No Rugby World cup team would be complete without him.”
CENTRES:
Outside Centre: Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland) – “The ability to change the game in a second, a heartbeat, with his movement, with his skill, his game reading but also his leadership.”
Inside Centre: Tim Horan (Australia) – “A guy that knew how to win, knew how to play the game. His body language suggested he didn’t really know how to fail or what mistakes were, what under performance was.”