England beaten by France in Six Nations
England were beaten 10-53 by France in the fourth round of the Guinness Six Nations at Twickenham Stadium.
A Freddie Steward try and five points from the boot of Marcus Smith was no match for a ferocious French outfit, who won for the first time at Twickenham in 16 years, thanks to 23 points from Thomas Ramos, and tries from Thibaud Flament (2), Charles Ollivon (2) and Damian Penaud (2).
A neat offload from Ollivon inside the French 22 was the catalyst behind the opening score just two minutes into the Test, as it saw second row Flament break away before passing to the onrushing Ethan Dumortier, who put Ramos away in the corner. The full back converted his own effort for a 0-7 lead, and had further success from the tee five minutes later, nudging a penalty over.
Les Bleus had their second try on the 25-minute mark, as Flament powered over from close range following a succession of positive forward carries orchestrated by Antoine Dupont. Ramos added the extras to make it 0-17.
Marcus Smith bagged England's first points after 33 minutes, curling a penalty over the posts, but Ramos answered immediately with his second effort, before Ollivon crossed for the visitor's third try on the stroke of half time. Fabien Galthié's men took a comprehensive 24-point lead into the break.
Steve Borthwick's men started the second half brightly, as replacements Owen Farrell and Alex Mitchell injected immediate pace into attack, and worked England up the field. Ten metres out, Steward took a short line off replacement Mitchell, bounced opposite man Ramos off a tackle, and surged over for a try. Smith Added the extras, cutting the deficit to 17-points.
But England's promise was short-lived, as Flament scored his second on the hour mark - profiting from the favourable bounce of a Dupont box-kick that was tapped into his hands by fly half Romain Ntamack. Flanker Ollivon bagged his second minutes later - both were converted by Ramos for a 10-41 lead.
In what was a scrappy final 10 minutes, outside centre Gael Fickou saw a mismatch wide, and executed a pinpoint cross-field kick into the path of Penaud - who collected the ball before cantering in unopposed. Ramos claimed his 23rd point with the successful conversion, and another Penaud try in the 75th minute sealed a famous French win.
Teams
England
Starting
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 (C), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 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
Starting
15. Thomas Ramos, 14. Damien Penaud, 13. Gael 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. Francois Cros, 7. Charles Ollivon, 8. Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements
16. Peato Mauvaka, 17. Reda Wardi, 18. Sipili Falatea, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. Sekou Macalou, 21. Maxine Lucu, 22. Yoram Moefana, 23. Melvyn Jaminet.
Fixtures & Results
England 23 - 29 Scotland
England 10 - 53 France
18 Mar - Ireland v England - Dublin
