France vs England - minute-by-minute

[FKAS]

Penaud when he's on form is quite frankly an incredible player.

[16th man]

Penaud when he's on form is quite frankly an incredible player.

I reckon if he were English we'd have him on the probables pile because of his defensive positioning when he was younger.

[FKAS]

Penaud when he's on form is quite frankly an incredible player.

I reckon if he were English we'd have him on the probables pile because of his defensive positioning when he was younger.

Nah he's big, strong and has a good kick chase game. Straight in, probably to endure games barely touching the ball under old regimes.

[Puja]

Minute 26: There is a brief attempt to claim that Smith didn't take the ball into goal and instead just dotted it down, but it's clearly not supported by the replays and we should just be thanking our lucky stars to have a scrum rather than complaining.

We get the scrum mostly done this minute and Genge deserves a medal - for all my pre-match concerns about him not having the chops for defensive scrummaging, this is an absolute masterclass as he resists the temptation to try and attack and instead holds off Atonio until the big man ends up flat on his face. The ref doesn't give him a reward though, as the ball is at the back, and France have to play away.

Minute 27: Alldritt picks and goes from the base, but Underhill is very quick off the scrum and smashes him backwards a good 6-7 metres in the tackle. Meafou tries to pick and go, but Genge is there waiting and drops him on the gainline. Itoje makes a mess at the breakdown - he's nowhere near getting the ball, but his fuckery stops Le Garrec from passing it away and it's still slow ball. Marchand carries more effectively, but France are still 3m behind where the scrum was and our defence is set firm, so it's passed back for Ramos who goes for an optimistic cross-field kick.

I Bet Ntmack Wouldn't've Done That: 2

This probably isn't justified, as there's absolutely nothing on and the cross-field is fully covered by MSmith, so it wasn't like there was a golden opportunity, but the kick is poor and no French player stands a chance of stopping it from going out on the full. There is a brief horrible potential for a Question of Sport What Happens Next, as Smith sees the ball is going straight into touch and leaves it, only for it to bounce off the corner flag and very nearly go back into play, but thankfully it bounces on the line and we can come back for the 22 drop-out.

Minute 28: Ford puts up a steepler - it lands 43m out, about 10m from touch, and hangs for so long that France have to put up a lifting pod to claim it. They get slow ball with no blindside to work with - excellent restart.

The first play is a forward carry that meets the blitz defence of Underhill, trapping France 5m behind the gainline. The next is a brief attempt to use the backs that is curtailed by the blitz and knocks France 3m further back and nearly lets Itoje in for the turnover. They try one more phase and just draw even, so it's time for the caterpillar and box, but Le Garrec catches everyone unawares with a quick little dink over the top that so nearly finds Ramos. Ford covers well and kicks away, but he's lucky that the bounce of a rugby ball didn't hate him too much there, cause that one could've gone very badly.

The kick is long and Barre has to chase it back into his 22, but he gets extraordinarily lucky as his kick is charged down by Earl and, instead of providing us with a try, nearly provides France with one as it bounces into Penaud's hands as he retreats. I hate that law that everyone is onside as soon as there's the smallest flick of a charger down's finger on a kick, but it doesn't come back to bite us as Penaud can't quite hold onto the ball and we escape with a scrum for the knock on.

Minute 29: Great scrum by England - the ref has a word with them telling them he wants them higher (which suits Atonio better) and then stands on Genge's side so that he can't be using his bind to lower Atonio to the floor. Genge refrains from skulduggery and stands firm for long enough for George to get a quick hook back for an instant Earl pickup - the scrum goes into reverse very quickly, but the ball is long-since gone. In addition, because France are putting the big heave on, the back row stays down and Earl can run at Ramos, who is frankly saved by Le Garrec coming across and making the tackle for him, as he appears to have no interest in tackling Earl at all. Lawrence is first over, but does a poor job of defending the ball from Alldritt - it's either a penalty England for Alldritt playing the ball in a formed ruck, or it's a penalty France for England holding on on the ground, but Angus Gardner chooses a secret third option of playing on until Underhill levers Alldritt away.

Genge carries up and makes some good yardage with footwork to dance around Meafou and find a better path through contact. He's had a very good game so far.

Minute 30: We set the caterpillar, which again takes up a full 15 seconds of all of our lives and is welcomed only by the humble author who now only has to describe 45 seconds in this minute. It's a wonky kick again and only just avoids drifting into touch, but Daly taps it back. Itoje gathers, but gets man and ball with Penaud tackling and Atonio coming in to rip the ball away.

France look to go wide-wide off the turnover ball and we are only saved by Slade coming in out of nowhere to cut the ball off at source. We'll call it exquisitely judged, because he's leaving a 5-on-1 overlap if he doesn't make that tackle in time. He can't stop the offload however, and Cros runs hard, busting through a too-big gap between Underhill and Genge and then stepping through a weak Martin tackle. He offloads to Ollivon and we are broken through the middle. Freeman does well to cut off his passing options and shepherd him into Ford, who completes a decent tackle, but it's still quick ball for the French and they've got an overlap. Smith charges up on the first man, but can't stop the offload and Underhill is knackered after chasing back and isn't up quickly enough on the blitz. Ramos has time to put in the cross-field kick...

I Bet Ntmack Wouldn't've Done That: 3

Wow. It's not a guaranteed try-scoring opportunity - Lawrence is making a nuisance of himself and shut down the pass, then recovered to put pressure on the kick, plus Freeman is haring across with a decent chance of tackling the recipient into touch as he catches, but it's also a shocking kick... actually on replay Lawrence gets a hand to it and knocks it up in the air. Fair play to Lawrence for doing that and my apologies to Ramos - it may not've been a great kick, but it's a defensive success rather than a Ramos fuck-up.

I Bet Ntmack Wouldn't've Done That: 3

Lawrence follows up by piledriving Barre as he catches the ball. Fickou and Alldritt try to be clever with a switch, but Underhill makes the tackle - he's pinged for tackling from the floor, but it's actually harsher than it looked on first watch, as he is *just* back to his feet before throwing himself at Alldritt's legs. Can't blame the ref though - I'd've given that one too.

France play the ball out for a forward runner tipping a pass onto a forward runner, but Cole reads it and puts in a good tackle. Le Garrec then picks and goes, only to find that the gap isn't there, at which point he goes very old-school scrum-half play and sets up a forward to take the fall for his mistake. The pass to Marchand comes with little blue flashing lights on it and he barely catches it before getting brutalised backwards by Chessum and George.

[Banquo]

great stuff. All the unseen work being seen.

[16th man]

great stuff. All the unseen work being seen.

It is high-lighting just how many moving parts there are to the defensive system, and how much physical work it loads onto a lot of players.

Possibly should be in the 2.0 thread but:
The big worries for me are that this has been shown up by how any mistake tends to become a massive collapse and separate but a little linked, created potential for a "they're here, because they're here, because they're here" situation where off form or not fully fit players are being used because they've had time with the system, and no one else has.

That could well put us into the "loyalty to the group over rides all other factors" phase of the England sports coach death spiral a couple of years early.

[Banquo]

great stuff. All the unseen work being seen.

It is high-lighting just how many moving parts there are to the defensive system, and how much physical work it loads onto a lot of players.

Possibly should be in the 2.0 thread but:
The big worries for me are that this has been shown up by how any mistake tends to become a massive collapse and separate but a little linked, created potential for a "they're here, because they're here, because they're here" situation where off form or not fully fit players are being used because they've had time with the system, and no one else has.

That could well put us into the "loyalty to the group over rides all other factors" phase of the England sports coach death spiral a couple of years early.

...sort of implies Slade forever as well

[FKAS]

great stuff. All the unseen work being seen.

It is high-lighting just how many moving parts there are to the defensive system, and how much physical work it loads onto a lot of players.

Possibly should be in the 2.0 thread but:
The big worries for me are that this has been shown up by how any mistake tends to become a massive collapse and separate but a little linked, created potential for a "they're here, because they're here, because they're here" situation where off form or not fully fit players are being used because they've had time with the system, and no one else has.

That could well put us into the "loyalty to the group over rides all other factors" phase of the England sports coach death spiral a couple of years early.

...sort of implies Slade forever as well

If Marchant does return from France this summer it'll be interesting to see what Borthwick does at 13.

[francoisfou]

I Bet Ntmack Wouldn't've Done That: 2

It's rumoured that Romain Ntamack could be in the Toulouse side for the home game against Pau on Saturday evening.
It'd be his first game since that feckin' World Cup warm-up game against Scotland in August.

[Scrumhead]

It is high-lighting just how many moving parts there are to the defensive system, and how much physical work it loads onto a lot of players.

Possibly should be in the 2.0 thread but:
The big worries for me are that this has been shown up by how any mistake tends to become a massive collapse and separate but a little linked, created potential for a "they're here, because they're here, because they're here" situation where off form or not fully fit players are being used because they've had time with the system, and no one else has.

That could well put us into the "loyalty to the group over rides all other factors" phase of the England sports coach death spiral a couple of years early.

...sort of implies Slade forever as well

If Marchant does return from France this summer it'll be interesting to see what Borthwick does at 13.

Agreed. Marchant is very underrated and it’s a huge shame he’s not currently available for selection.

He did quickly deny he is heading to Saracens, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.

[p/d]

Coka gets one day of wearing the 13 shirt and the rug is pulled from underneath his feet

[Puja]

Minute 31: The ball squirts out (possibly some hands on the floor by Chessum? Subtly done, if so) and Le Garrec finishes up a poor sixty seconds by flipping a no-look one-handed pass which would've look great on the highlights if it didn't go straight to Itoje's hands. We are called back for the harsh penalty anyway and France opt for the posts.

Minute 32: On replay, Ollivon does fend off Ford's chin with a forearm. It's not massively dangerous play, but it is probably a penalty. We have had some lucky breaks, so not really worth complaining about. Ramos slots the penalty from a tough angle and it's 13-3.

Minute 33: Once again, a high kick-off from Ford to Meafou, but this time Freeman ends up tackling one of the players shielding the catcher. Probably smart and easier on his shoulder! Earl covers behind and does the business. France play another phase infield and Genge is pinged for a no-arms tackle on Atonio. It looks very harsh, but we only get one angle and the ref is much closer than me, so we'll call it stupidity on Genge's part.

Minute 34: France kick the penalty to touch and I definitely owe the ref an apology as a replay shows Genge with a clearly tucked arm. Wasn't even that he was trying to go too low or it was tired, like the Earl one later, it was just rubbish technique/an attempt to hurt rather than tackle. Stupid, stupid play.

France throw the lineout to the back and play away into midfield. England are up hard and quickly for a Ford/Lawrence double-tackle on Alldritt that knocks the ball free. Meafou gathers and rumbles in - he bounces the upright tackle by Earl, but a good low tackle by Underhill takes his legs before he can make ground. France run another couple of forward phases, going very slightly backwards each time.

Minute 35: Le Garrec fumbles at the base of the ruck and three England players step up. Itoje and Cole both retreat behind the back foot, but Martin doesn't and he's pinged for offside. I was outraged at this call in real time, as I was convinced the fumble made the ball out, but I'm unsure if it is on replay. The ball is still under the back foot - does the fact that Le Garrec made an attempt to play it away count as the end of the ruck? It feels harsh to ping Martin for what is effectively an accidental dummy, but it may be correct under the letter of the law.

France attempt to use the advantage to go wide, but Daly is up and blocking the easy pass, so Fickou has to wang it over the top to Penaud, making him stop and stretch to catch the ball right on the touchline, with Daly closing in. He is, however, utterly ridiculous - hands off Daly and Mitchell, then runs across the field, accelerating out of two attempted tackles from Martin and Chessum (both of whom had him lined up dead to rights before he changed gear), steps/powers through a tackle from Lawrence, steps inside leaving Dan Cole flailing at thin air, and then runs forward. He is stopped by Earl clinging desperately onto his bootstrap, but he's able to offload to Flament on the burst. Underhill chops him down and Itoje is stopped from jackalling by a side clearout, so the ref goes back for the penalty. Frankly ridiculous.

[Puja]

Minute 36: Ramos slots the 3 points from the halfway line and it's all looking a bit dire at 16-3.

Minute 37: Ford does a trick kick-off to the right, grubbering through for Balshaw to chase... I'm just kidding - it's a high kick-off to Meafou with Freeman hunting him down. This one isn't as good and Meafou gets time to catch and rumble. Freeman gets his legs, but Itoje tries going high and loses his dignity as he is unceremoniously bumped off. France kick for touch.

Dallaglio and Kay are wittering on about how France have referees in camp and England should be looking to do that and the best referee in the world in Wayne Barnes is available and England have apparently decided that they don't want him. It doesn't matter how many times the main commentator mentions that England *do* have referees in their training sessions (and that Wayne Barnes isn't actually waiting by the phone for England to ring, being retired and all), they just won't stop wittering on. I normally have a lot of time for Kay, but I think Lol is a bad influence.

England throw to the middle for relatively uncontested ball and it's spun out to Ford in midfield with a fairly innaccurate pass that makes him jump for it. It matters not - Ford gathers it in and runs a nice move where Underhill looks to be the carrier, but it's pulled back for Earl looping round the crash into Ramos. Ramos does make the tackle, but it's quick, front-foot ball and England play into the backs immediately. We've got numbers down the right and Barre comes rushing up from full-back only to get played like a fiddle by Slade, who just grubbers the ball into the space that he just vacated. Smith is chasing hard and, while Penaud is across to gather the ball, he's got no space to manouevre and Smith puts him into touch. Very, very nice play.

Smith then picks a fight with Penaud about getting the ball for a quick lineout - he looks kinda overstimulated. Maybe worth cutting back on the blue M&Ms, although maybe he's allowed to be a bit more emotional from 15?

Minute 38: We throw to Itoje in the middle and France have no interest in competing, setting immediately for the maul defence. We have no interest in taking on the French maul, with Earl breaking away, but he has to dodge around a tenuously bound French prop and he's lost some momentum in exactly the same way he got turned over by Reffell in a similar situation against Wales. This time the heavy mob are close in attendance, although Alldritt does get enough of a hand to the ball to make it squirt out the back.

Genge reacts quickly and plays scrum-half for Martin to run hard. His supporting man of Itoje gets disconnected in contact and France manage to turn it over, but thankfully Atonio was offside and we can come back for the penalty. It has to be tempting to go for goal here - accept 16-6 as a decent result given some of the French chances and look to go again in the second half - but George has confidence and opts for the corner. I'm fairly certain that I didn't have confidence at this point.

Minute 39: England go to Chessum in the middle and it's once again perfect darts from George under immense psychological pressure. Ollivon gives England an early safety net by starting the drive early and taking out one of the lifters before Chessum's hit the deck, so we set the maul. Ollivon is now around the wrong side from his offence and decides he's already given away the penalty so may as well commit to it, which causes us problems. The maul splinters and Earl wrestles his way free to set up the ruck. Underhill then tries to be clever and pick from the edge of the ruck, but France are paying attention and he gets dumped back into the ruck and dispossessed.

Minute 40: We opt for the lineout again and it's a third pressure-throw for George. We throw to Chessum in the middle and set a maul, but Itoje stumbles and it makes a mess of everything. George, Genge, Earl, and Underhill form what can only be described as a "caterpillar maul", going one after the other to just build a bit of structure that's away from French arms for Mitchell to play from. It works well enough and looks threatening enough that France are loathe to move their forwards away just in case England decide to have another rumble.

Minute 41: Mitchell passes to Slade at first receiver, who times his pass beautifully to let Lawrence run onto it and burst through the gap to go under the posts. Gods below and ever-burning, did we need that score.

Replays show how nice that try was. Slade takes it to the line and looks like he's pulling it back to Ford running behind with Smith/Daly/Freeman arcing around. Fickou has one eye on Ford's movement, as there is space outside that is worrying, and it distracts him just enough. Lawrence's line starts off running at Fickou, but he angles away late, drifting on the pass just enough that he ends up hitting the gap outside Fickou. Gael has no time to adjust and Lawrence is coming with such pace, onto such a nice pass, that an arm tackle just isn't going to be good enough. Looks very simple, but actually very nice indeed and it might not be the last time that the board owes Richard Wigglesworth an apology.

Minute 42: Ford pops over an easy conversion and we go in 16-10 - still losing at half-time, as is our hobby this Six Nations, but feeling a heck of a lot better about life than 16-3 (or even 16-6) would've been.

[Puja]

Minute 41: The second half begins and Ford kicks off to a small off-duty Czechoslovakian traffic warden... wait, he has actually done something different this time, I don't need to be sarcastic! It's a kick down the centre for Slade to compete - he gets a hand on it, but not enough to knock it back to our side, so the French regather with knock-on advantage. Marchand attempts to carry through Earl, but it's a good, low, tackle and he goes fairly firmly backwards. France set up a looooong caterpillar and box kick away to touch just inside England's half.

England put enough movement into the lineout to get uncontested ball in the middle, which Itoje puts perfectly off the top into Mitchell's hands. We run a similar move to the one that isolated Ramos to set the position at the end of the first half, but the French can learn too and this time it's Alldritt waiting to tackle Earl. The ball is back instantly and Slade is playing 12 outside of Ford. He runs onto the ball, takes it to the line, and then puts out an absolutely glorious flat miss-pass to put Freeman away down the wing. Who was it who wanted to drop Slade earlier in the tournament? Definitely not me.

Minute 42: Freeman is corralled by the French cover, but he steps inside and bumps Barre to set up more quick ball. Genge carries up first receiver to tie in defenders and make another few metres, and it's another 2 second ruck with Mitchell spinning the ball away.

Ford then puts in a miss-pass which could charitably be called flat, and accurately called forwards, but the referee lets us away with it and that's kind because it's a thing of beauty - fizzing across the face of Itoje to find Underhill running through the gap left by everyone focussing on Maro. He's brought down by Ollivon, but offloads out to the tackle (is that a linkman, jngf?) to Earl who has space and one man to beat. He attempts to hand off Barre and it looks like he's through, but Barre shows incredible strength to cling on and drag him down *just* outside of reach-for-the-line distance.

Mitchell and Itoje pile in to secure the ball and Daly is there to play scrum-half. He flings it out to Ford, who pats it onto Smith to escape the blitz, but Smith loses his footing. Marks here for Penaud who puts hard pressure on Ford and then transfers out with incredible reactions to press on Smith and cause the stumble. Lawrence does an amazing job to clear out and keep the ball, but the immediate scoring chance has gone. George carries it up one phase inside to gain better ball - it's still not very quick, but Mitchell fancies the newly created blind side and picks and goes. It's 3-on-3, but Mitchell's dart draws Penaud's attention inwards and, by the time he's confident that Le Garrec has Mitchell covered and looks up, Lawrence has changed his line and is cutting back against the grain at his inside shoulder. Penaud can do nothing more than grab at his shirt and, while he and Le Garrec do bring him down, he's close enough to reach out and ground the ball. What a five minutes for England.

Minute 43: The French director does the Gallic equivalent of finding Owen Farrell in the crowd by having a long, lingering shot of Jonny Wilkinson, but it's to no avail, as Ford slots a difficult conversion to put England ahead for the first time in a long while. 16-17

Minute 44: France kick long for Mitchell to take and boot clear. Not sure what they're hoping for with that strategy, as it doesn't seem to be working. France lineout on the 10m line, but Martin takes revenge as he reads the French movement and gets up ahead at the front to tap the ball back. He doesn't get as lucky a richochet as France did - it bobbles to Dan Cole, who takes it in to secure slow ball. We run through a forward runner phase to get more secure possession...

Minute 45: ...and set up the caterpillar. Martin goes to join the back, but is waved off by Cole who takes the place instead. Tactical brain says Martin is a more useful asset on the chase, Cynical brain says Cole probably fancied a rest.

Speaking of rests, Mitchell seems to be better for his one - that is a much better box-kick than anything he served up in the first half. Penaud gets nowhere near it and Daly can take uncontested. England get it back and Ford kicks long over the head of Bielle-Biarrey, who has stayed up in the line at the threat of Freeman and is now learning why that was a bad idea. He scrambles back and gets to the ball before it bounces into touch, but his return kick is badly sliced and lands in Smith's hands. There is room for a more expansive counter-attack, but Smith is a bit indecisive and ends up just driving forward with his pack in support, carrying it up to around 27 metres out. France have not numbered up correctly on the new blind side and Bielle-Biarrey is very slow to get back into position, so Mitchell snipes, drawing B-B and passing to Freeman who has space to run into. The cover comes across, but he steps Ramos, draws Barre, and passes out of the tackle from Ollivon for what should've been Mitchell's try, only for a flailing hand from Barre to slap it forward. Gardner somehow misses it, as does the touch judge and TMO. I will forgive the live officials, because it is a very tough game, but the TMO needs shooting, as it is the most blatant penalty try you will ever see.

France have the ball (caught in an offside position as well, if you don't want to give the penalty try) and wang it wide with Baille throwing in a huge miss-pass on his own tryline. Bold, and eventually Le Garrec decides discretion is the better part of valour and kicks into touch.

[Puja]

Minute 46: England run a very nice 4-man lineout drill - suckering France into moving their lifting pod to the front, before pelting it to the back and lifting Chessum for George to hit at double top. No chance of competition at all, plus great quality ball at the back. Mitchell throws a flat pass for Ford to run onto and he feeds Genge who looks to be playing the "ersatz centre on the crash ball" routine. Alldritt has come across to protect Ramos and it looks like our crash ball policy is thwarted, only for Genge to put a late, accurate pop pass for Earl to accelerate onto, and he's through the gap between Depoortere and Ramos before they even see him coming.

Earl draws Barre before putting a perfect pass out to Smith. Penaud is haring across and has the line and the pace to take Smith if he goes for the corner, only for Smith to put in an ankle-breaker of a sidestep at speed, leaving Penaud flying off in the wrong direction and allowing him to hand off Barre and score. Another fantastic bit of attacking play and we all feel a little bit more relaxed at beind denied the penalty try a minute ago.

Minute 47: We get a whole minute of replays and we deserve to have these nice things sometimes. Just lovely rugby.

Minute 48: Ford takes his time over another difficult conversion and it's 16-24 to the good guys. Good times! France respond by bringing on the heavy mob - Mauvaka and 2 x Taofifenua.

The French kick-off is much higher and competitive, so Mitchell leaves this one to Earl to catch and carry up. Penaud does a good job on the chase and we're tucked fairly deeply inside our 22. We caterpillar and box for a decent return, leaving France with an attacking lineout 38 metres out.

Minute 49: France take the lineout quickly, taking uncontested front ball and passing for forward runners in midfield. Good tackles by Earl, Underhill, George, Cole, then Slade keep France just behind the gainline, but France are getting quickish ball and we've started to run out of bodies. Fickou makes ground between Genge and Freeman and Le Garrec opts for the swift chip box-kick over the top. Thankfully Ford has read it and comes across to take the mark - there would've been trouble if that one had been allowed to bounce.

Minute 50: Ford kicks the mark long to find touch just inside the French half, but Barre isn't interested in waiting for the set piece and throws the quick lineout to himself. This turns out to have been a poor decision, as England's chase is well-organised and he's forced to kick, which he also does badly. It's sliced and Ford takes an easy mark on the edge of the 22. There's an argument to say that he should've attacked from there - none of the French players were onside and there was a tonne of space, but I think I endorse his decision - it's a lovely position to be kicking from and England need to keep their heads and have a bit of structure here, rather than getting over-excited at being 8 points up.

Ford kicks for touch and it's now a lineout just inside the French 10m line. We celebrate by bringing on an entirely new front row, which is an exciting degree of trust being shown in Theo Dan. Worth noting again that Genge has had a belting game, with only the stupid no-arms tackle blotting his copybook. He's definitely our first choice 1 going forwards.

We have just enough time in the minute for France to throw into the lineout - Martin can't quite get a hand to the ball, but he does enough to make it messier for France and get them more worried about how they're going to evade him at lineouts.



That will do me for tonight and there may be another pause in operations as I'm likely busy until after the Easter bank holidays. Might be able to get another 5 minutes or two out during the day tomorrow - we'll see if I manage to get a lunch break from work, but otherwise, most likely to be on Monday or Tuesday evening before you get any more. Still, 16-24 is a nice place to pause upon.

Puja

[FKAS]

Thanks Puja, if only sir had chosen to finish the game at this point.

[Banquo]

...sort of implies Slade forever as well

If Marchant does return from France this summer it'll be interesting to see what Borthwick does at 13.

Marchant is very underrated

By who?

[Oakboy]

If Marchant does return from France this summer it'll be interesting to see what Borthwick does at 13.

Marchant is very underrated

By who?

By me (wrongly), early on, to an extent - largely because I simply preferred Slade. Having said that, I advocated playing Slade at 12 with Merchant at 13 for years. Had it been given an extended trial it would have been a better partnership than any other that was picked to include Farrell and/or Tuilagi, IMO.

Should Merchant now return to an English club, he would certainly offer a useful option. Two from Lawrence, Freeman, Merchant and Slade is a better position regarding centres than we have had for some time. Two very experienced players together with two younger ones for the future is useful.

We are now seeing better standard choices in every backs position, arguably.

[Banquo]

Great stuff. Interesting that some of our best plays involved Slade at 12 in attack. Never would have thought of that

[Banquo]

Marchant is very underrated

By who?

By me (wrongly), early on, to an extent - largely because I simply preferred Slade. Having said that, I advocated playing Slade at 12 with Merchant at 13 for years. Had it been given an extended trial it would have been a better partnership than any other that was picked to include Farrell and/or Tuilagi, IMO.

Should Merchant now return to an English club, he would certainly offer a useful option. Two from Lawrence, Freeman, Merchant and Slade is a better position regarding centres than we have had for some time. Two very experienced players together with two younger ones for the future is useful.

We are now seeing better standard choices in every backs position, arguably.

He's always been a very good player, and has got 27 caps.

[Oakboy]

By who?

By me (wrongly), early on, to an extent - largely because I simply preferred Slade. Having said that, I advocated playing Slade at 12 with Merchant at 13 for years. Had it been given an extended trial it would have been a better partnership than any other that was picked to include Farrell and/or Tuilagi, IMO.

Should Merchant now return to an English club, he would certainly offer a useful option. Two from Lawrence, Freeman, Merchant and Slade is a better position regarding centres than we have had for some time. Two very experienced players together with two younger ones for the future is useful.

We are now seeing better standard choices in every backs position, arguably.

He's always been a very good player, and has got 27 caps.

I'm surprised it was not more - injury-affected presumably?

[Banquo]

By me (wrongly), early on, to an extent - largely because I simply preferred Slade. Having said that, I advocated playing Slade at 12 with Merchant at 13 for years. Had it been given an extended trial it would have been a better partnership than any other that was picked to include Farrell and/or Tuilagi, IMO.

Should Merchant now return to an English club, he would certainly offer a useful option. Two from Lawrence, Freeman, Merchant and Slade is a better position regarding centres than we have had for some time. Two very experienced players together with two younger ones for the future is useful.

We are now seeing better standard choices in every backs position, arguably.

He's always been a very good player, and has got 27 caps.

I'm surprised it was not more - injury-affected presumably?

and he was first capped just pre covid, went to NZ, was changing between wing and centre too. All sorts of stuff.

[Puja]

Minute 51: England charge up in defence, but there's a disconnect between Dan and Marler in the defence at the back of the lineout, which Ramos runs at. We bring him down, but France are way over the gainline and cement that with an Atonio carry to make another yard. Chessum doesn't roll away in the tackle and it's a soft penalty given away. Ramos kicks to touch and it's a French lineout on the edge of the 22. Surprised he's not kicking for goal - it's within his range and he's been potting them for fun so far.

Minute 52: England choose not to contest and instead look to attack the maul, but it is very well set up and France get a rumble on. Chessum gets away with a blatant side entry that achieves nothing of value, but the maul ends when France roll a splinter group away and Mitchell gets away with a blatant side entry that strips the ball. I'd be fuming if I were French. That feeling only gets worse as Itoje dives on the loose ball and Alldritt has an age to get the jackal in before support can arrive, only to be pinged (rightly) for his hands hitting the ground first. England penalty to clear and a lucky escape.

Minute 53: Slade kicks for touch and makes it just within our half. England got for another 4 man and it's a fun drill again - Chessum moves his lifting pod to the middle to lure the French in and Martin runs around the front to take a short one. Those are more difficult than they look, as you're changing your angle of throw late and it's so easy to skew it not straight, but this one is perfect. Atonio is paying attention, so it's an immediate tackle, but it is also secure ball.

We play one phase inside, where Earl shows off some footwork to make it back to the gainline, and set up a caterpillar and box. It's another belting effort and Freeman is right underneath it - unfortunately he can't get quite enough on it to tap it to anyone in particular and the loose ball bounces kindly to Atonio.

Minute 54: The ball goes back to Barre who kicks long, but Ford has it covered. The French line is solid, so Ford puts up a high ball for Smith to chase. Smith has to weave through a lot of traffic which means he takes his eye off the ball and landing zone, leaving him underneath where Ramos is jumping. It's a poor bit of work - he's blocked from the direct route of getting there and jumping himself, so he should be looking at backing off and how he's going to defend, rather than fighting for a ball that he can't win. As it is, it's a soft penalty that's lucky that Ramos lands so well.

Ramos gets up and gives Smith a shove, which leads to some shouting and angry finger-pointing - Smith is definitely fired up today. Dallaglio quips, "Ramos might want to have that kind of [angry] approach to his tackling," which is the best thing he's said all game.

It's too far for the posts, so France go for the corner again, but this time Ramos goes too hard and doesn't quite make touch. Ford keeps it in with a delicate footballer's touch, Freeman thinks about the run, but then passes inside to Smith, who has to clear under pressure from Le Garrec. Shame actually, cause the wide shot shows that, if he'd had time to look, a cross-field kick would've likely been a try for Daly - would've been a worldie of a spot though.

Minute 55: France lineout, 35 metres out. Chessum comes off for Roots - he has looked very tired in the last 5 minutes, so it's probably time.

France throw to the middle and try to get the rumble on, but England have defended this one well, with Dan very astutely picking his time to join in and stop the roll that would've let France break away. The failed roll has let Itoje work his way around to the back - he's not got hands on the ball yet, but he's enough of a problem that further mauling isn't going to work, so France collapse it and take the ball from the ruck.

Atonio runs at Ford, but Dan is there with a textbook side-on thigh/knee lasso to bring him down. England don't quite get their defence organised in time and Le Garrec picks and goes - we bring him down, but the ball is instant for RTaofifenua picking and going and offloading to Fickou on the burst, and we are in trouble and going backwards. Roots stops the forward momentum with a good low tackle, but it's quick ball again for the French and Ollivon running straight into an unprotected Ford. France flump over the ruck off their feet and Itoje attempts to demonstrate this by reaching over and fishing for the ball, but the referee waves him off and he does well to listen. Frankly, it's getting to the stage where it's almost worthwhile a tactical penalty, although the French maul has been fierce enough that it'd be a dangerous tactic.

[Puja]

Minute 56: As it is, he's slowed down the ball enough that England are reorganised. The next phase sees STaofifenua getting chopped a metre behind the gainline - it's not much, but it's the right direction for the first time in several phases. Itoje is nearly in on the ball again, but cleared away. The next phase is the same, but this time Roots and Lawrence drive through the ruck and can't quite keep their feet, eliciting penalty advantage. It's annoying, but probably a fair cop.

Mauvaka picks and goes through the gap that the Roots/Lawrence clearout left, and Le Garrec gets instant ball from the ruck to feed Flament coming at pace. He offloads out of the tackle, the ball is spun wide and we just run out of numbers. Smith blocks the final pass, but then has to tackle Ollivon, which allows him to offload out of the tackle for Barre to walk over. Just too many hard runners, too much quick ball, no way for England to stop the momentum and you just can't defend against that.

Minute 57: Ramos pops over the simple conversion and it's now a one-point game. 23-24. England walk back to halfway very, very slowly.

Minute 58: High kick-off for RTaofifenua to do his best Meafou impression - he is scragged early and France set up a ruck. They play one phase out to improve their angle and kick for touch - Itoje looks marginally offside, but justice is done as he gets a finger to the ball and concedes a French lineout about 35 metres out.

Interestingly, Itoje has doffed his scrum-cap, which has happened several times in this 6N. I'd love to know what the trigger for that is - presumably there is something that changes in a game that makes him feel he's better without it, maybe heat, or wanting better hearing or peripheral vision? IT's not becoming captain, cause that happened 8 minutes ago. I feel naked if I'm on a pitch without wearing mine, so I can't understand the capacity to chop and change.

Manu is prepared to come on, but it's not his time yet. France throw a cheeky lineout to the front, which is then passed back for Mauvaka to make ground down the channel - England are alive though and scrag him before he goes too far. France go through another phase and lose half a metre to the rush defence, and so they slow it all down again.

Minute 59: Marler is being a dick on the wrong side of the ruck, so STaofifenua (mostly legally) dumps him over the top of it. Le Garrec takes his time and puts up a very testing box-kick that Daly does well to field before getting immediately levelled by Penaud and Gros. Martin shows excellent rucking position to fend off a counter-ruck by Gros, and Mitchell plays the ball away.

Earl runs at the French defence, drawing Ollivon in with an arcing run and then popping the ball just before contact to Dan coming through at pace. He's hauled down, but we're nearly up to halfway and have quick ball again. We have an overlap, but Ford makes the wrong call - he makes the simple pass to Smith rather than the miss-pass to Lawrence that would have unlocked the 3-on-2 in space. Smith compounds it by not making a wide pass to Slade to unlock a 2-on-1, and instead steps back inside where he is handily dealt with by Ollivon. Worse, instead of accepting his mistake and going to ground, he then tries to offload to Lawrence, who gets the ball with a side order of Depoortere and Flament and gets bundled backward. We do keep the ball, but all momentum is gone and we go through another phase to set up the box-kick. Poor play by the backs there and a definite opportunity missed.

Mitchell slices the box-kick, making all of 8 metres, and Freeman then fumbles the catch. It looks like France have pounced on the loose ball, but the resulting ruck sees England come up with it, so I'm not sure what happened there. Probably lots and lots of cheating!

Minute 60: Mitchell tries again, this time with a snap low box-kick instead of a caterpillar, and this one is much better - end-over-end aiming for the 50:22. Barre gets back in time to cut it off and France end up kicking it out for our lineout, just inside their half.

Manu is on for Slade, which feels like a mistake - he has been excellent so far and gives us width, which we have looked like outflanking the French with time after time. Unless Slade is knackered, I don't think we should've been bringing him off.

Ah, the fateful lineout. This one is a mistake with the call - Itoje goes towards lifting Martin at the very tail of the lineout, but it's a dummy and instead he's coming forwards to jump in the middle with Martin as his back lifter. Unfortunately, it's a very effective dummy, as it suckers both the French and Theo Dan, the latter being more important as he throws to where Martin would have been going up.

My lawsuit against Gilbert for bias gathers more evidence, as the bounce of a rugby ball apparently always hates you unless you're French. It skips off the surface away from Underhill and bounces up beautifully for Ramos to belt it on the half-volley. It slices off Ramos's boot, changing his intended punt downfield into a perfect outside-of-the-boot cross kick. Daly has come pelting up to form the defensive line and, faced with the ball suddenly coming his direction, tries to reverse and loses his feet - he's up quickly, but he's now not going to be first to the ball. Smith, Penaud and Daly are racing for the ball - if it breaks left, it's Smith's, if it continues its momentum, it's Daly's, but what it does is pop directly up in the air for Penaud to run onto without breaking stride. Smith does incredibly to ride the hand-off and tackle Penaud, but the offload is easy to put Fickou under the posts.

Life's not fair sometimes. Absolute sucker punch for a try that France did absolutely nothing to earn and came from sheer, dumb, luck.

[Banquo]

BTW- word on THAT lineout is that Dan misheard the call.