England started the 2017 RBS 6 Nations as they finished the last as Ben Te’o’s try handed them victory over France but they were made to work very hard for their 19-16 success at Twickenham
Eddie Jones’ side went unbeaten for the whole of 2016 but trailed heading into the last ten minutes in this encounter – but they refused to be beaten and found a way through late on to make it 15 wins in a row, their best-ever record.
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Under pressure for much of the first half, Jones’ side withstood the French charges to go in level at half-time – although France showed more promise after a good November showing.
Les Bleus dominated possession in the first half, but had just three Camille Lopez penalties to show for their efforts, with Owen Farrell, twice, and Elliot Daly replying in kind for England.
Daly almost had the first try soon after half-time, but was brilliantly forced out by Noa Nakaitaci, and instead it was Rabah Slimani who broke the deadlock on the hour, scoring on the same ground where he got his first Test try at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Jones has never been afraid to make bold changes and having already taken off his skipper Dylan Hartley, he also brought on Te’o for George Ford and it had an instant impact as he scored on his Championship debut for the win.
FRANCE START FAST
Lopez and Farrell had exchanged early penalties, before France went 6-3 up and England lost Jonny May to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle on Gaël Fickou.
With an extra man, France took advantage of the space down May’s wing, with Louis Picamoles, outstanding all game, producing one great charge down the left, and when Maro Itoje caught him high, Lopez added three more.
Although France were on the front foot, they weren’t creating many try-scoring chances, and England cut the lead back to three through the boot of Farrell when Sébastien Vahaamahina was slow to roll away from a ruck.
Jones’ side were starting to work their way back into the game although they had to be sharp defensively as Nakaitaci almost got away on the right after a Picamoles break.
But England showed their ambition by running the ball out of their 22 soon after, earning a penalty which allowed them to set up camp back in the French 22.
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Lopez missed a chance to extend the French lead when he pushed a penalty just wide, and instead it was Daly who showed his long-range kicking ability when France were penalised for pushing early – to level the scores as 9-9.
Farrell followed Lopez’s lead by missing a kickable penalty early in the second half, but gave them the lead for the first time on 54 minutes when Rémi Lamerat had not released with England threatening.
DALY SO CLOSE
In between Daly had almost scored the game’s opening try, getting away down the left but a brilliant covering tackle by Nakaitaci forced him to put a toe in touch.
But having gone behind, finally France broke through for the first try, and it came from the most unlikely of sources in Slimani.
It came from their desire to offload the ball. First Picamoles made ground on the left, and then when the ball came back Vahaamahina and Kévin Gourdon both passed out of the tackle with the replacement tighthead on hand to crash over. Lopez’s conversion made it 16-12 to the visitors on the hour.
TE’O TIME
England found themselves with it all to do heading into the final ten minutes, but after kicking to the corner their replacements came through, with Danny Care and James Haskell setting up Te’o to crash over. Farrell’s conversion made it 19-16 to the hosts.
And after such a physical encounter, France got the ball back one last time but could not muster anything from their own half as England held on.
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