Yes! Ben Foden scores for England
Related links
Teams
Also see
England took pole position in the Six Nations title race on Saturday with a 17-9 win over France in a high-paced encounter at Twickenham.
A Ben Foden try early in the second half proved to be the difference between two very evenly-matched sides in a clash high on intensity but littered by errors.
The result brings an end to France's Grand Slam defence and leaves England as the only unbeaten side in the championship.
It was all square after a hotly-contested first half that was somewhat tainted by a number of handling errors from both sides, who were looking to play positive rugby but struggled to come to grips with a slippery ball.
France enjoyed the ascendancy in terms of both territory and possession for much of the game but les Bleus will head home regretting a handful of missed opportunities.
England on the other hand confirmed their status as the northern hemisphere's leading nation as the home pack matched their much-vaunted visitors in the tight exchanges and the back three once again looked dangerous whenever on the ball.
Toby Flood opened the scoring from the kicking tee early on but was answered almost immediately by Dimitri Yachvili.
The respective place kickers continued to trade penalties until the French scrum-half had a chance to put France ahead for the first time just before the break.
His attempt sailed just wide however to leave the sides locked at 9-9 as they headed for the changing rooms.
England took the lead again soon after the restart when Foden scored an excellent try. Tom Palmer had put England on the attack by charging down Yachvili and after sending the ball to one touchline, England brought it back to the other as Flood had three runners coming off his shoulder. Foden showed tremendous strength to muscle his way over, despite the attention of two French defenders, for the game's only try.
Jonny Wilkinson added three points within seconds of coming on for an injured Flood to move ahead of Dan Carter as the world's top Test points scorer and extend England's advantage at 17-9.
Yachvili hit the upright with penalty attempt and Aurélien Rougerie knocked on in the act over diving over the try-line to leave France frustrated but the status quo on the scoreboard.
England must now host Scotland before travelling to Dublin as they seek to repeat their Grand Slam of 2003.
Man of the match: Not too many stand out candidates here. Toby Flood was good but didn't last the distance after hurting his ankle. Rougerie was a class act but that knock-on when France desperately needed a try ruined his team's night. We'll back up the official choice and go for Tom Palmer who hit rucks hard all night and was key in setting up England's try.
Moment of the match: There can be only one: Foden's try was the match-clincher.
Villain of the match: A cheeky one here. Steve Thompson matched Brian Moore's record for caps at hooker for England, but his jersey was way to small for the size of his stomach!
The scorers:
For England:
Try: Foden
Pens: Flood 3, Wilkinson
For France:
Pens: Yachvili 3
The teams:
England:15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mike Tindall (capt), 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nick Easter, 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:16 Steve Thompson, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Hendre Fourie, 20 Danny Care, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 Matt Banahan.
France: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Sebastien Chabal, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Alexis Palisson.
Venue: Twickenham, London
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Alan Lewis (Ireland), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Comments
Cass402 says...
@JeanLucJoinel,
which game were you watching fella?????There were 2 sides slowing the ball down and the French seemed to be the most adept. They did'nt strike me as a side who wanted to cut loose. Where exactly did they seem the classier outfit..Chabal, Poitrenaud??
Posted 13:04 28th February 2011
Danatthecorner says...
@ Papachinzo & JeanLucJoinel
Whatever helps you sleep at night lads, although I feel I am duty bound to say you are talking utter rubbish.
It was a good game I thought, though perhaps the second half didn't meet the heights of the first. England played badly in the first half offensively, not helped by a pair of lumbering fools in the centres. However, in the 20 minute period where England had a try disallowed and scored their own try, it was the half-backs that came to the forefront of everything good that they did.
To those writing us off, writing off the half-backs and saying we're overrated, you are dramatically missing the point. No-one is saying England are the finished article. It was another step on the journey to the world cup, another learning process that they have come through.
Last year England lost a tight game that they were leading in New Zealand to the Maori, and here they came through unscathed with the W. In back to back weeks, a young pack missing Croft, Lawes, Moody and for the most part Sheridan, has gone toe-to-toe with Italy and France and found a way to negate the disadvantage at the scrum whilst turning both sides over in the loose. My money says this is far more valuable than whopping teams by 30 points only to get to the world cup and find that you are not battle hardened enough.
I'd be far more worried if Stephen Donald was my back-up fly-half, if he was an absolute liability in any kind of defensive situation like Quade Cooper, or if he couldn't run a bath like Morné Steyn.
Posted 09:26 27th February 2011
gauca says...
Fra must now look towards the WC and with a still decent number of games need to go back to the drawing board, fra need faster delivery from the scrum half, neither parra or yachvilli give this.
We need better bench options for impact than the likes of thion, guirado and chabal, and changes in the back division as poitrenaud and jauzion are not at their previous best and traille I feel is too one dimensional.
Elsewhere in the top14 Fra have the players to sort out these weak points but I very much doubt ML will change anything now even though he has got just about enough time to do it.
Posted 08:06 27th February 2011
froggy73 says...
England were the far better team and deserved the win. France have a stereotyped game that doesn't scare any of the top nations. One last thing: wtf was this referee doing ???
Posted 07:48 27th February 2011
tafiwi says...
A good match-up and the first half was entertaining. I thought the French forwards did well against the much-vaunted English heavies. Neither back line looked likely to make a break - great tackling from both sides though. The injury-prone will not make it through the RWC - sorry Mr. Sheridan.
Posted 02:22 27th February 2011
nabberuk says...
"papachinzo says...
France were awful... But so we're England to be fair. The question, Is Flood good enough was answered, no he isn't..."
What a load of BS!
Posted 00:36 27th February 2011
timmo says...
England worthy winners of a very world-cup like game in terms of intensity. Good physical contest and well done France for sticking in there but the second half was decisive especially in the forwards. Thought the scoreline flattered France through stupid England penalties and although the French should have scored a try, equally England butchered at least two clear chances by being overanxious, plus there was no reason not to award Tindall's score. England have certainly come a long way since the last time these two sides played proving they're onto something, whereas France have gone backwards. Well done Jonno!
Posted 23:01 26th February 2011
7nezking says...
this was an intense game and crazy at times although there was only one try. The scoreline could have been heavier for the french to swallow if tindall's and ashton's tries were awarded (some reffs would have awarded both of them, some only one, some none of the 2 like today).
I have to say, I have always liked Chabal for his strong runs but he just doesn't cut it as a starter. He has never really impressed when he starts and loses too many balls when tackled. He should either stay an impact player (although sometimes even when he comes on he doesn't make that much difference) or used as a lock, but then again with what we've seen of him in this tournament, I'm sure France has better forwards than him.
Huget was also below par, and he has been like that all tournament. Don't know why he is still playing.
Good on wilkinson for retaking his #1 spot although I think Carter will easily reclaim it.
Ben Youngs was really average.
Posted 22:39 26th February 2011
timmo says...
England worthy winners of a very world-cup like game in terms of intensity. Good physical contest and well done France for sticking in there but the second half was decisive especially in the forwards. Thought the scoreline flattered France through stupid England penalties and although the French should have scored a try, equally England butchered at least two clear chances by being overanxious, plus there was no reason not to award Tindall's score. England have certainly come a long way since the last time these two sides played proving they're onto something, whereas France have gone backwards. Well done Jonno!
Posted 22:08 26th February 2011
rugbylover says...
..........Clancy is a ****** .................Does he know ANYTHING about throwing the ball into a line-out!? Shameful Mr Clancy.
But - what a match! Les Bleus were dignified in the face of biased incompetence (see above).
Could have gone either way...............................- despite Clancy.
Posted 21:39 26th February 2011
lawynd says...
@papachinzo - did you watch the same game the rest of us did? Flood was tidy the entire time he was on the field, kicked his goals and made good territorial/tactical decisions, and set up some dangerous breaks, including for the try that wasn't given (I'll give Mr Clancy the benefit of the doubt, nobody in the pub could say 100% either way whether it was forward or not from the angles we had). Whilst I feel Trinh-Duc is hamstrung by a couple of lethargic scrum-halves, even with ball on the gain-line he rarely looks like he'll break or set up a good attacking move.
Posted 21:13 26th February 2011
ChrisInCrete says...
Well done Jonny Wilkinson to get the record back. He maybe won't hold it long, but what a guy. Can you imagine anyone getting near him if he hadn't had all the injuries.
Posted 20:42 26th February 2011
Kawasakifreak says...
Youngs & Flood are over-rated & looked average against a good French defence.
Youngs will have to improve.
Wilkinson used better tactics later in the game for England even if his execution wasn't great at times.
Overall - the wet conditions exposed both teams for what they are - not quite good enough to worry the top three sides in the RWC.
Posted 20:27 26th February 2011
Bokswillprevail says...
A win is a win I guess, for Eng. As much as it pains me to say, the Eng defensive structure was good. The only real difference now from SH 'Superpowers' is the lack of quality, big, strong, fast loosies, and one or two gamebreakers from 9-15. That goes for both teams. I loved the swan dive in vain......... moment of the match.
Posted 19:50 26th February 2011
papachinzo says...
France were awful... But so we're England to be fair. The question, Is Flood good enough was answered, no he isn't...
Posted 19:37 26th February 2011
mlbp says...
The match was decided by little details. The beginning of the second half, with a loose ball after Yachvili charged kick, and a bumbling ball by Cueto that proved a blessing in disguise. Had he caught the ball in the first instance instead, they would have probably not scored the try. But Cueto was fast to react and pass the ball to Foden and that caught the French defensive line by surprise.
Yachvili's kick to the posts was also a moment that favoured England.
England were definitely the better team today, but they have a lot to improve if they want to beat the Southern Hemisphere teams consistently. When Croft, Moody and Lawes are back England will have an even more fearsome pack. They have an embarrassment of riches in some positions.
Louis Deacon had a great match. Palmer and Easter are world-class.
I don't know if Dan Cole was really injured at the end of the match. If a match is tight the winning team with an already-injured prop (like England today with Sheridan, how unlucky he can be!) can take off a supposedly-injured prop and then have uncontested scrums.
I think there should be an extra prop on the bench to come on only if both props are really injured. I believe they do that in France. I would also call for both doctors from both teams to check if the players are really injured, as I believe they did in the old times.
I remember some years ago in an England-France match Mark Regan came on to substitute a prop and there were uncontested scrums all the second half, and he was a front rower! Surely he could have played as a prop, as John Smit does sometimes! For the last minutes of the match Hartley should have come on and not Fourie. He proved priceless in the last plays of the match. Imagine, a team playing with a blindside flanker for a prop and no scrums. That's four loose forwards! That's a big advantage.
Congratulations for England!
Posted 19:31 26th February 2011
mlbp says...
I hope this is the end of Chabal in the blue jersey.
The lack of creativity by France was clear during the match. They had some glimpses of continuity and their physicality was a match for England's grit, but France really need to play with another level of speed.
Rougerie has proved me wrong. He's growing into a world-class centre. I really hope he turns into a Tana Umaga (from winger to centre).
Huget still has something to prove in attack. Where is Malzieu? Isn't he a fantastic player?
Parra is slow when finding the ball in the ruck and delivering it to the backs. Trinh-Duc would benefit from a faster-playing scrum-half. Kiwirooster says that Trinh-Duc is a 12 and not a 10. I don't know about that, he looks fine to me. He's no Dan Carter but he can play in the position.
I'm sad Harinordoqui and Dusatoir had such a great game and came out in the losing side.
Why does Lièvremont make stupid changes? Is it necessary to change players when they are not tired or a change in tactics is not needed? Yachvili was playing better than ever, Pierre was having a stormer, Poitrenaud was not having his best day but he was a lot better than Traille at fullback...
England looked overeager at times. Tindall and Hape are next to useless in attack when it comes to making decisions.
England's forwards were outstanding at times. They were all mortar and bricks when it was necessary at the end of the match. They could shut out France in the second half. That is something few teams can do.
Posted 19:17 26th February 2011
gauca says...
What a game!!!!
Well done Eng, the right result I feel, but I thought we gave an excellent account of ourselves. Eng a little more clinical on the night, that said had the odd 50/50 or ball bounced in our favour a little more who knows?? never the less well done Eng and I can take pride in us going down fighting and not capitulating.
Both sides with work to do to challenge the tri nats in WC but both can take positives from the game going forward.
For us, I think the evidence on tonight was Chabal is past it and Huget not up to scratch while the replacements after three games have failed to impact the game. Yes we have been calling out for consistency and ML is actually delivering that, but if the match day squad is still missing the likes of malzieu, picamoles to name a few then we will struggle to beat the tri nat sides in WC.
Posted 19:15 26th February 2011