Eddie Jones’ England sealed their first Grand Slam in 13 years with a 31-21 victory at the Stade de France last night and their first RBS 6 Nations title since 2011.
England were clinical in attack, scoring three tries through Dan Cole, Danny Care and Anthony Watson while the French played with a flair and ambition not seen in many years. Watch here as England cap off the RBS 6 Nations in style. Jones brought Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care in for his sharpness around the ruck and after 12 minutes the selection paid dividends. The Harlequins half-back spotted Jefferson Poirot wandering out of position and darted through a gap, past the cover defence and under the posts. Farrell converted and England took a 10-3 lead.
On his 61st cap, Dan Cole grabs only his second international try and makes France pay for their profligacy in attack by scoring England’s second try of the half. Cole had work to do when he got the ball, but he used his considerable bulk to power through two tackles and over the line.
All of France’s 21 points came from Maxime Machenaud’s metronomic boot, but in patches they played with the vigour of old in attack, running from deep and causing havoc out wide. In particular Scott Spedding, Gaël Fickou and Virimi Vakatawa made hay in the broken field and here the three combine to slice through England’s defences.
Machenaud’s boot bridged the gap between in England and France, but Jones’ replacements took the game away again. Here Billy Vunipola puts England on the front foot, Ben Youngs drops a kick into the path of an on-rushing Anthony Watson and the Bath winger effectively seals an English victory.
England clinch a first Grand Slam since 2003 and Jones’ unbeaten run as England coach continues. Captain Dylan Hartley, taken off injured on 67 minutes, returns to lift the trophy and exorcise the demons of opportunities missed.
