Brute force: Manu Tuilagi
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England sidestepped their latest challenge on their way to a Grand Slam with a punishing 23-13 victory over France at Twickenham.
France were transformed from the sluggish side that were abysmal against Wales a fortnight ago - aggressive at the breakdown and benefiting from moving Wesley Fofana back into the centre after his ill-fated stint on the wing.
England were more clinical in the second-half and gained the lead thanks to a fortuitous try from Tuilagi, who enjoyed an excellent afternoon against his French counterpart Mathieu Bastareaud.
A brutally physical clash worth of its affectionate title, saw frequent crunching tackles whilst the scrum was a contest initially dominated by France, before England gained parity as the match progressed.
It was far from the greatest performance under Stuart Lancaster, but a crucial result that leaves England with Italy and Wales in their path on the way to a first Grand Slam since 2003.
Farrell opened the scoring for England after just two minutes following an infringement from Thierry Dusautoir at the breakdown.
France were unable to exploit a three-man overlap on the outside when Bastareaud knocked on, but with advantage being played Morgan Parra opened his account with a penalty from 39 metres out.
The visitors grabbed the initiative in the scrum to force England into conceding two consecutive penalties, with France benefiting from a smoother surface than the pot-holed Stade de France from a fortnight ago against Wales.
Both sides struggled to convert large periods of possession in attack - conceding penalties when faced by a physical backlash from the opposition at the breakdown.
An attacking line-out created the base for a promising English attack after Manu Tuilagi burst through the midfield, only for Farrell's chip across for Chris Ashton to go too deep. Farrell converted England's penalty advantage however to make the score 6-3 after 27 minutes.
Fofana then broke through several English tackles down the left flank to score the game's opening try, Ashton's tap tackle unable to bring the Clermont centre down as he crossed in the left-hand corner, with Parra converting.
Farrell hit back with a penalty to cut the deficit to one point with five minutes left before half-time, before Parra attempted to respond with a penalty of his own at the end of the half from long-range which fell wide to the left.
France showed no let-up in the scrum at the beginning of the second half, forcing the penalty, but Parra was unable to convert.
A punishing maul from England then handed Farrell the chance to regain the lead, with the Saracen again successful to move England 12-10 ahead.
England then furthered their lead thanks to Tuilagi, the Leicester centre snatching up a loose ball at the back of the French ruck to canter into the corner.
France struck back with a penalty immediately from the restart, substitute Frederic Michalak coming on to convert and leave the score at 17-13. More strict officiating at the breakdown from referee Craig Joubert handed England an opportunity to add more points, Farrell lining up a 48 metre attempt which fell low to the left.
A burst up the left from Picamoles had England scrambling, before Michalak failed to take a low pass having begun the passage of play with a perfect chip over the top of the English defence.
Another brilliant surge from Tuilagi left Bastareaud flat on his back in midfield, setting up a grubber kick for Toby Flood behind the French defence which was well fielded by Vincent Clerc.
England though were in the ascendency at the breakdown, with Michalak penalised to allow Toby Flood the easiest of opportunities to stretch the home side's lead. He made no mistake - sending England into a 20-13 lead with seven minutes remaining.
Another error at the breakdown handed Flood a further three points to give England a solid cushion heading into the closing minutes.
The home side's defence held despite a late French surge, confirming their victory on a bitterly cold night at Twickenham and condemning France to one of their worst starts to a Six Nations ever.
Man of the Match: Despite the presence of Tuilagi, Tom Wood was outstanding for England from the base of the scrum.
Moment of the Match: With a lucky break needed, Manu Tuilagi could scarcely believe his luck as he picked up a loose ball and scored England's first try.
Villain of the Match: Not the greatest of substitute appearances for Frederic Michalak, whose little errors gave up key points in the second half.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Tuilagi
Pens: Farrell 4, Flood 2
Yellow Card: Cole
For France:
Tries: Fofana
Cons: Parra
Pens: Parra, Michalak
The teams:
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.
France: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Jocelino Suta, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Florian Fritz.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
by Ben Coles
@bencoles_
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
My team for Italy:
Marler (assuming Corbi is not ready)
T.Youngs
Cole
Launchbury
Parling
Wood
Robshaw (c)
Morgan
B.Youngs
Burns
Twelvetrees
Tuilagi
Wade
J. May
Brown
Bench:
M. Vunipola
Wilson
Webber
Robson
Croft
Care
Farrell
Foden
Posted 21:46 24th February 2013
Toulousain says...
PR says: "Man of the Match: Despite the presence of Tuilagi, Tom Wood was outstanding for England from the base of the scrum."
Strange, I don't recall Wood making a single significant carry from a set scrum all game? And Tuilagi had a simple walk-in for his non-try. Meanwhile, the no 8 and no 12 wearing blue caught the eye a little more imo. Picamoles ended with 81 metres gained ball in hand (more than 3x Wood's figure). Fofana nailed every tackle and scored arguably the individual try of the tournament so far, from inside his own half, beating half the English team on the way...
Maybe there is a simple error of translation? PR meant to say: "Despite the presence of Fofana, Picamoles was outstanding from the base of the scrum..."
Villain of the Match? Gold, silver and bronze would be shared in no particular order amongst Farrell, Vunipola and Ashton. Meanwhile, Michalak has hardly had a week off playing since the beginning of last year's Super Rugby with the Sharks. Hardly a villain. More a walking shadow of himself...
Moment of the Match? PR says: "With a lucky break needed, Manu Tuilagi could scarcely believe his luck as he picked up a loose ball and scored England's first try."
"FIRST" try? I'm not English, but does that not imply other tries were scored after it. I don't recall England scoring any other tries? Nowhere near in fact. Hardly a second in France's 22, despite being gifted numerous intercepts. Should that not therefore read "ONLY" try?
Come on PR. Sloppy reporting. People who didn't see the game might get the wrong impression hehehe...
Posted 21:24 24th February 2013
kybone says...
Sirjona- Back to the posters we know boring, boring, boring and post the same old uninformative drivel
Posted 21:15 24th February 2013
Saint_Andre91 says...
Too late to post about reffing, everything has already been said man ytimes. Could please Mr Joubert get assitance from the URLs new_J4a offered to share with us on this forum.
Back to the match report, having Tom Wood as man of the match says it all about his author. As the mom award should belong to the winning side, I would give it to Tuilagi who was at his destructive best for start to finish and there would be no discussion from anybody. Giving it to Wood considering the performance of the opposite #8 is pure farce. Give credit to England for seizing the opportunities Joubert kept on giving them for the first 55mins and annihilating France for the remaining 25mins, yet I think anybody having seen the match would pick at least Picamoles and Fofana over their English counterpart.
Posted 21:09 24th February 2013
kybone says...
jontheref- Im not denying that farrell made contact, but are you really saying that you're ok with players feigning injury in order to get the attention of the ref? If you are then i suggest you go watch football- you'll love it, they do it all game long.
As for Farrell 'bawling' in the fullbacks face, i think you're refering to the incident where the ball passed to Huget for him to clear and as Farrell attempted to rush up for the charge down he was tripped by a French player. A yellow card offence if seen.
Posted 21:08 24th February 2013
new_j4a says...
@jonthe(so called)ref who said "18 minutes, Farrell clocks parra in the throat with hsi elbow, deserved a yellow if seen. Deserves to be cited. Henson had 14 weeks for something less than what farrell did, and he was provoked." You are just factually wrong....there was no elbow to throat contact. Farrel makes contact with his arm between the elbow and shoulder with Parra's face. Parra's dive deserves condemnation. And again you say "Joubert and his team were not up to standard, 58 Tuilagi runs into Farrell, accidental offside, becomes a n England PK! Bizarre." Do you understand materiality? Hope that they aren't letting you ref above mini level in Wales. The penalty is for not rolling away....perfectly correctly reffed by Joubert. You say "62 aforementioned Vunipola offence, the officials just could not communicate." Joubert is unsighted. There appears to be a technical hitch with comms--notice Joubert's hand on his ear piece. So what is your point? Can we assume that you don't have communications glitches in the valleys? You say "68 Ashton throws the ball away" I agree, should be a penalty. You suggest a YC, which convinces me that you don't know what you are talking about. Please post the irb recommendation for a YC or ANY international where a YC has been given ....and I am nor talking about your Welch club rugby where people as ignorant as you are given a whistle because you are the only one in the village who can read.You say "75 Fritz tackles Asdhton, releases, gets up, goes back for the ball, penalised for not releasing, when it was truly his PK for Ashton holding." Again you are factually wrong....no clear daylight. Have you thought about a refresher course and a new pair of specs?
Posted 21:08 24th February 2013
kybone says...
Nastyned- Cant agree on the Ashton tackle issue. Watch the replay, Ashton just moves clean out of the way of Fofana. Yes Lawes missed him, but he was stretching, and Youngs' attempt was poor, but he was Ashtons' man first of all. The fact that he then gave chase is no consolation.
Posted 21:01 24th February 2013
Jhamer25 says...
Uh waz im pretty sure i said that in the end england deserved it in the end.
Get your facts right,
WA was it thsy annoyed you the fact that i said cole wasn't the best in the scrum becuase you shouldn't be angry with me be angry with cole for not doing his job
Posted 20:14 24th February 2013
Sirjona says...
Back to the England we know boring, boring, boring and win by any means.
Posted 19:36 24th February 2013
choky says...
armchair a well referred game ? u must be joking - i dont dispute the english victory but the try should not have been allowed and the last penalty agnst france is very questionnable - thats the points which are the difference at the end - this said i do think that despite a god french performance england deserves to win at the end
Posted 18:16 24th February 2013
HG_Paris says...
England deserved the win. Joubert always penalises the team who is defending. One thing I do not understand is why Farrell & Ashton were being so petulant. It reflects badly on all the team. If I had behaved like Ashton at school (throwing the ball a Fall), I would have been suspended. That kind of stuff should remain on the footie pitch!
Posted 17:34 24th February 2013
les_bleus says...
Yes ArmchairGeneral, the ref was absolutely great, England didn't benefit at all, great England victory, congrats.
Apparently the Times has a somewhat less rose-tainted view of the ref.
Posted 17:20 24th February 2013
lawynd says...
Most of what I thought of the game has already been mentioned by others, I just want to add that if we're going to play a non-tackling winger, we might as well put one in who can score tries; Wade in for Ashton, please Stuart. Goode apparently fancies himself elsewhere to fullback too, be was nowhere to be seen for Fofana's try. So, Brown to 15 and Foden or Biggs to 11 too, please.
Posted 17:07 24th February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Note also England try was not a momentum shift on its own. Conversion was missed and France scored 3 next. Yet England won by 10. Ref absolutely did not lose the game for France.
Posted 16:29 24th February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Watched the game a 2nd time. Things always get missed but Cole got a yellow card I didn't even notice on first viewing. All in all a well refrereed game. The culprit for French down turn were not the ref but England positive subs and fitness, and idiotic French subs. England can improve well from this as clearly Lawes won't start at 6 next game and he probably missed half his tackles. Perhaps Half of England's first half missed tackles. Lancaster has to ease up a little on playing players out of position. Wood Lawes Brown. Last time, Wood, (arguably Haskell), Barritt, Brown. Bring in a no8
Posted 14:33 24th February 2013
macte says...
It seems that this year the wooden spoon is going to be a business between France and Italy.
I was thinking that this is quite interesting: France and Italy both have the most renowed cuisine of the world. They certainly would know how to properly use a wooden spoon. The best the others could do with it is stir a wiskey brew.
Italy have a good collection of spoons and should be courteous to leave it to their cousins, this time.
Posted 14:16 24th February 2013
Axax says...
@les_bleus
I would agree with you labelling this english victory "punishing" (PR) or "clinical" (BBC) is exagerated - both adjectives being very egotistic imo, especially since Tuilagi's try is honestly disputable. BUT there was room for France to win, but England were more constant, had better replacements and were mentally stronger, so I refuse to put England's victory on Joubert's poor performance.
Posted 13:44 24th February 2013
J_Hdk says...
Btw even Lawrence Dalaglio found the referring decisions questionable and by omission favoured the English. Nothing paranoid about it.just a very poor performance by joubert. He even ignored his lines men when they drew attention to offences
Posted 13:43 24th February 2013
TVaddict says...
Ok, points to make:
-Well done to France for improving so much, you'd definitely be 2 from 3 if you'd played like that the last few games.
-England got lucky and, although the penalties didn't all go one way as some people on here think, we definitely got the rub of the green.
-Despite that I feel the better team won. We had a plan to push them harder in the last 30 mins and it worked with our superior and France's less superior bench.
-I'd say the big difference between the two teams was Launchbury, Wood, and Robshaw who were just immense. I've not seen the stats but the amount of carries and tackles was unbelievable from what I could tell. I maintain my view that Wood and Robshaw are the fittest flankers in the 6 nations at the moment.
-I was impressed Tuilagi managed to dominate Bastareaud so well, even managing to bump him off a few times.
-@Waz4before: Completely agree, Lancaster's achievements are incredible.
-@jontheref: If you thought the Farrell incident was a yellow card I can only assume you usually referee football? Cristiano Ronaldo would have been embarrassed by Parra's drive and it's an area of the game which we need to not let grow.
Now for changes that need to be made for the Italy game:
-Lawes back to the bench, he's not a 6 but is ok cover in case of injuries.
-Vunipola to start, we've really been missing Corbisiero.
-Youngs to start, Hartley was poor in the set piece and very poor in the loose. His place on the bench is under pressure for me.
-Wood back to 6 and either Morgan or Vunipola at 8.
-I'd have Twelvetrees at 12, if for no other reason than to give Barritt a break!
-Ashton has to go, Wade/Daly/May at 14. Brown to move to 15 with Daly/Biggs. Daly to be at least on the bench as he covers 13/11/14/15. For me it'd be 11)Biggs 14)Wade 23) Daly.
I like that we won when there was still a lot to improve. A good sign for the future.
Posted 13:39 24th February 2013
choky says...
kybone - point taken- then i do apologise if my comments come from me mistakenly understanding english - am i also misunderstanding 'punishing" defeat' as in french we would underdtand same to be a real beating ? if thats the case then i withdraw all my comments - all other comments made below by english people are quite fair and england victory was deserved at the end - just tought that words and title used by the site were very very arrogant and chauvinistic given how close was the game - my bad if this is because of my misunderstanding of english
Posted 13:30 24th February 2013