The first half was a scrappy affair, punctuated by moments of brilliance.
France fullback Thomas Ramos, possibly the greatest kicker from the tee in the game, surprised the entire Allianz Stadium when he missed a kick at goal ten minutes in. England would have been delighted if was a sign of things to come for the Toulouse player.
Les Bleus had only conceded three penalties in the entire match against Wales in round one, but England were proving to be tougher opposition at the Allianz Stadium, frustrating the visitors in the first quarter.
On 20 minutes, France broke out of their 22 and ran almost the entire length of the field. It could have been a classic Gallic try but for – of all people – Antoine Dupont failing to get hold of the would-be try-scoring pass from Ramos. Then, after stealing England’s lineout ball a minute later, France’s second-deadliest operator, Damian Penaud, fumbled the ball with the home line beckoning.
Last week’s Guinness Player of the Match, Grégory Alldritt, snaffled a loose England ball inside the home half. Dupont embarked on an arcing run, shipped the ball inside to Penaud who, confronted by fullback Marcus Smith, grubber-kicked beyond the English defence for fellow wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey to score.
Ramos’ touchline conversion added the icing on the cake of an enchanting team try: 0-7.
England’s own try before half time was somewhat more prosaic – in the build-up at least – but camped on the French line, the hosts overcame a dropped ball (backwards) to feed it to centre Ollie Lawrence, who fended off a flailing Ramos with ease to run it in from short distance. Marcus Smith converted for a 7-7 score at the interval.
The second half started at a blistering pace, and while the speed of it resulted in a number of handling errors and missed tries, it undoubtedly made for entertaining viewing. Both teams were here to play, and the fans in this corner of south-west London made their appreciation felt.
Ramos didn’t miss when presented with a penalty opportunity ten minutes in, following an England offside just outside their 22. The fullback didn’t have to wait long to add another as England were then penalised at a scrum: 7-13.
England weren’t cowed, and their confidence paid off when fly-half Fin Smith went against the grain and hoisted a kick into the French 22 that was claimed by his Northampton teammate Tommy Freeman. England recycled the ball quickly and soon Freeman was galloping across the whitewash for the try. Marcus Smith was off-target for what should have been an easy conversion: 12-13.
France’s response was instant, working their way upfield with alacrity, then a wing double-act as Bielle-Biarrey came across to the right to put Penaud away for his 37th Test try. Ramos couldn’t convert: 12-18.
Continuing the chaotic theme of the day, England were straight back into the French 22, only for Marcus Smith to knock the ball high and forwards in what looked to be a sure-fire try with France under the pump.
Almost 70 minutes had been played when England were presented with a penalty opportunity very close to the French 22m line, and opted to kick at goal. Marcus Smith made a nightmare-inducing hash of it, however, to ease French nerves a little.
When they won another penalty shortly thereafter, Fin Smith tellingly kicked to the corner. They were rewarded for that choice when, from the lineout, prop Fin Baxter scored from a pick-and-go. Fin Smith was now on kicking duties and made no mistake when looking to add the extras. Now it was 19-18, with England ahead for the first time in the match.
It lasted all of five minutes.
More frenzied play saw France razzle-dazzle their way from 22 to 22, before Bielle-Biarrey found himself with oodles of space down the left to score his second try. Ramos converted: 19-25 with just minutes left in the match.
If there was a roof on the Allianz Stadium, it would have been raised to high heaven when replacement Elliot Daly came off the blindside wing to take a Fin Smith pass on the edge of the French 5m line and went over for a game-changing try.
Fin Smith converted in front of the posts to take England one point clear and secure a memorable victory for Steve Borthwick’s men after three straight defeats to France.
