France 12-10 England
France duly won the grand slam, but not in the manner to which their supporters had become
accustomed. It was England, gallant in defeat, who showed the ambition and enterprise with Ben
Foden and Chris Ashton damning the national management for not being bolder sooner, but once
again they were outsmarted. A rainy night in Paris was not the time to discover that handling was
not taboo in rugby.
England scored the only try and came close to adding three more while France barely threatened
their line, but the conditions demanded a territory game, something England belatedly came to
realise and they brought on Jonny Wilkinson for the shoot-out. He kicked one penalty but was
never in range for a drop goal as France claimed their fourth consecutive title in seasons after
a Lions tour.
France had already won the championship courtesy of Scotland's victory in Ireland a few hours
before, but they had made it clear all week that the title would be a mere consolation and that
it was the grand slam and England's scalp they craved.
They were presented with two early opportunities to attack after Dylan Hartley's crooked throw
into a line-out in his own 22 led to France being awarded a free-kick at the subsequent scrum.
They took it quickly but settled for the very English option of a drop goal from the fly-half
François Trinh-Duc.
England then decided to play like France. Toby Flood launched his back line from deep and Mike
Tindall freed Mark Cueto with a long pass. The ball was quickly recycled, Flood threw a cut-out
pass to Flutey who gave the ball in one movement to the debutant, Chris Ashton. He in turn
shipped it quickly to Ben Foden on the left wing who had an unopposed 30-metre run to the line
for Flood to convert, an example of how to create space without making a break.
The last time England had shown any swagger was when Flood played in the centre against Wales,
and then only off turnover ball. Not even the rain put them off last night, Ashton twice breaking
tackles only for his kick to be charged down by Clément Poitrenaud before England
surrendered possession at the breakdown.
England's catharsis left France stunned to the point of catatonia. Flood went on a mazy run just
outside his own 22 and it was Les Bleus who were applying the brakes, Trinh-Duc's long
touchfinder winning applause from the crowd before Morgan Parra missed a long-range penalty.
England were missing Steve Borthwick in the line-out, even if their general demeanour more
resembled that of his successor as captain, Lewis Moody. Simon Shaw's right shoulder gave out
again after 15 minutes and he was replaced by the Stade Français lock Tom Palmer, one of
five France-based players in the squad.
England's scrum started to go backwards, missing Shaw's ballast, and the role reversal continued
as France, growing ever more cautious, crept back into the lead with two Parra penalties, the
second after England's's front row collapsed a scrum after being shoved ignominiously backwards.
The referee taking such a disdainful view of England's scrummaging was Bryce Lawrence, the New
Zealand official who contentiously blew Phil Vickery off King's Park during the first Test
between the Lions and South Africa last year.
The rain fell ever harder but still England looked to keep the ball in hand. It was, perhaps,
another example of the one-dimensional approach that has been their ruin since the 2003 World
Cup, over-reliance on a gameplan. Too much of the match was being played in their half and two
more penalties for scrum collapses gave France the position from which Parra kicked his third
penalty.
Both England's props were feeling the squeeze and the hooker Hartley had been warned after his
knee connected with the prop Thomas Domingo's ribs. It was one way of trying to sort out the
problems in the scrum, but England conceded 10 penalties and free-kicks to two in the opening
period, indiscipline undermining their new-found ambition and they went into the interval 12-7
down.
England made two changes in the front row at the start of the second-half, Steve Thompson and
David Wilson adding bulk up front and getting the scrum out of reverse gear. England continued to
seek space but they were most threatening when turning the defence by kicking: Care's chip to the
line would have been taken by Foden had it not bounced into touch, while Ashton, a right-footer
playing on the left wing while Cueto was a left-footer playing on the right, lost the race for
his chip ahead with Poitrenaud.
England had clearly been told to play more in their own half, but kicking is not Flood's forte.
He was hopelessly short with a long-range drop goal attempt and sliced a weighted kick towards
the France 22 directly into touch. The visitors had at least stopped haemorrhaging penalties and
their defence, apart from one move that saw the wing Marc Andreu threaten down the right, did not
suffer from doubt.
Foden and Ashton, in contrast, were causing the defenders grief with their angles of running and
footwork, but England were not turning pressure into points. Cueto's run into the midfield was
not picked up and he had a clear run into the home 22: Flutey was outside him, but Cueto tried to
step Poitrenaud and was nailed.
As the game entered the final quarter, France's nemesis over the years, Wilkinson, was brought
on. He went to outside-half with Flood shifted into the centre in place of Flutey. It was now
about points and when Julien Bonnaire boneheadedly took out Care at a ruck near halfway,
Wilkinson brought England back to within two points with a 50-metre penalty.
England were now within a drop goal of winning. France had been 9-8 ahead in the last five
minutes of the 2007 semi-final against England at the Stade de France when a Wilkinson penalty
and drop goal turned the game. The crowd tried desperately to rally their side as Les Bleus
looked to set up camp in England's half, but nerves and hands betrayed the new champions.
Wilkinson kicked deep, hurting his shoulder after leading the chase, and France four times ran
from deep. Bonnaire blatantly entered one ruck from the side but was not penalised, though after
Julien Malzieu had been hauled down on his own 10-metre line, James Haskell, not long on, flopped
over the top.
France gave away a penalty of their own through Jean-Baptiste Poux. Wilkinson's kick only made
the halfway line as the countdown clock reached zero. England were forced to move the ball, but
Cueto's knock-on ended the game to the relief of France and the anger of the England manager,
Martin Johnson, who came on to the field to remonstrate with the officials over a quick line-out
four minutes from the end, which saw Wilkinson gain 60 metres, but that was not the reason
England lost.
Paul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use
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