England have suffered their heaviest ever defeat at Twickenham, with France running out one-sided winners in a dominant 10-53 victory. Three sets of braces saw Thibaud Flament, Charles Ollivon and Damien Penaud all score twice for France, with Thomas Ramos adding the remaining points from the boot, and a try of his own.
RUCK’s 2023 Six Nations content powered by ISUZU.
Steve Borthwick spoke after the landslide defeat, highlighting the definite need for improvement.
“I think that we’re incredibly dissappointed with the performance. Immense credit to the French team, who had the power and pace, and the class showed, and I think that shows where the gap is. I said before the game that it was a formidable challenge and it turned out that it was. They (France) played exceptionally well, we played poorly. We will learn from it and get better.”
“We know where we are. We were against the second best team in the world, they showed just how much better they are, than where we currently are. Next week we have got Ireland who are the best team in the world. So, I said that we would have a good understanding as to where we’re at as a team at the end of this championship, and I think you can see how much work we’ve got to do.”
It took all of two minutes for France to open the scoring, in a one-sided first half. A powerful line break from flanker Charles Ollivon exploited space early in the English backfield. Ollivon offloaded in contact to Ethan Dumourtier, who draws the last defender and played in Thomas Ramos to score. Ramos began his impressive points tally, by converting his own try.
After five minutes, Gregory Alldritt made a break and collided impactfully at pace into Freddie Steward. The full back crumpled in the contact, with France awarded a pen at the following ruck. Ramos stepped up and extended France’s lead to 10 points. France maintained the first half pressure, with Antoine Dupont at the helm. The scrum half executed an inch perfect 50:22, which pinned England back under pressure from the lineout.
The maul was halted, yet France were able to work in field. Dupont set his forwards on short driving lines and sent Thibaud Flament crashing through Lewis Ludlam’s chop tackle. The lock then fended off Henry Slade, and dived over to score from close range. Another Ramos conversion secured a 17 point deficit.
Marcus Smith opened England’s account with a penalty shortly after, yet Ramos re-affirmed the 17-point gap with his own penalty moments later. In the final play of the first half, France broke away for their bonus point try, as Gregory Alldritt picked the ball from the back of the scrum, with Antoine Dupont in tow. The presence of the scrum half drew the England defenders, with Alldritt instead passing to Charles Ollivon, who was loosely covered and able to score.
Thomas Ramos’ fourth conversion saw out the first half with an emphatic statement, as the scoreline read 3-27 in Twickenham.
England had an ignited sense of fight coming out after half time, with newly appointed captain Ellis Genge taking charge. Calling for a scrum penalty from close range, Genge’s decision saw England retained the ball near the French try-line. Smith opted for the boot, and found Max Malins’ diving catch attempt in the corner. The winger was unable to ground the ball, and a TMO check ruled out the try.
England finally cross over for a try after 47 minutes, with Freddie Steward taking the plaudits. Quick ball is the order of the day, with Short and sharp carries continuing to find hands and open space. Marcus Smith slots the conversion, as England keep one hand in the contest. However, this hand was soon removed, as England fell to France in their heaviest home defeat.
Four unanswered French tries saw out the rest of the match, with England’s fans making a swift exit before the final whistle. Flament was first to grab his brace, as the second row scored his second try. Romain Ntamack wins an arial battle near England’s try line, and taps the ball back for the charging run of Flament. The Toulouse lock strided through to score, with Ramos again converting.
Flanker Charles Ollivon scored just seconds before the hour mark, with questions asked as to how the Toulon flanker grounded the ball. After Marcus Smith’s recovery, the Harlequin was wrapped up and driven over his line. The ball was let loose, with Ollivon’s hand emerging from the ruck, and grounding the ball, with the try awarded after a lengthy TMO review.
Then Clermont’s pocket rocket Damian Penaud scored twice in quick succession, to put the final nail in the English coffin. After 71 minutes, Penaud gathered a high ball far on the right wing, with Alex Dombrandt’s tap tackle attempt coming to no avail. The winger cruised in under the posts to score, as the England fans start to leave.
Penaud’s second try sounded the fire drill, as a mass exodus of supporters saw Twickenham empty out after 74 minutes. France were in full ‘Jouer’ flair, flinging the ball from one touchline to the other, with Penaud’s try coming in the right corner. Ramos missed his first off the game, yet that was a mere footnote in a decimating France performance.
ENGLAND: 10
TRIES: 1 (Steward 47′)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (Smith 47′)
PENALTIES: 1 (Smith 33′)
DROP GOALS 0
15. Freddie Steward 14. Max Malins 13. Henry Slade 12. Ollie Lawrence 11. Anthony Watson 10. Marcus Smith 9. Jack Van Poortvliet 1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George 3. Kyle Sinkler 4. Maro Itoje 5. Ollie Chessum 6. Lewis Ludlam 7. Jack Willis 8. Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: 16. Jack Walker 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Dan Cole 19. David Ribbans 20. Ben Curry 21. Alex Mitchell 22. Owen Farrell 23. Henry Arundell
FRANCE: 53
TRIES: 7 (Ramos 2′, Flament 26′, 56′, Ollivon 40′, 59′, Penaud 71′, 74′)
CONVERSIONS 6 (Ramos 2′, 26′, 40′, 56′, 59′, 71′)
PENALTIES 2 (Ramos 7′, 35′)
DROP GOALS 0
15. Thomas Ramos 14. Damian Penaud 13. Gaël Fickou 12. Jonathan Danty 11. Ethan Dumortier 10. Romain Ntamack 9. Antoine Dupont (c) 1. Cyril Baille 2. Julien Marchand 3. Dorian Aldegheri 4. Thibaud Flament 5. Paul Willemse 6. François Cros 7. Charles Ollivon 8. Grégory Alldritt
Replacements: 16. Peato Mauvaka 17. Reda Wardi 18. Sipili Falatea 19. Romain Taofifenua 20. Sekou Macalou 21. Maxime Luc 22. Yoram Moefana 23. Melvyn Jaminet
RUCK’s England player ratings vs France:
In six words or less.
15. Freddie Steward: England’s best player undoubtedly. 8/10
14. Max Malins: Miles off his best. Unlucky to miss try 5/10
13. Henry Slade: Hardly saw him. Lasted 45. 4/10
12. Ollie Lawrence: Needed to see more, but powerful carries impressed. 6/10
11. Anthony Watson: Lovely step. Lack of ball. 5/10