PARIS — Rugby really is a ridiculous sport.
The greatest Six Nations in history came down to the last kick … Of course it did. Thomas Ramos scored with the final shot of the match, a penalty from 45 metres out on the angle which secured France the Six Nations title and a 48-46 win over an outstanding England side.
France can collectively exhale, Ireland were seconds from winning the whole championship while England leave Paris in desolation having coming so close to securing a narrative-shifting victory. Phew.
This was a fitting denouement to five wonderous rounds of rugby. Overall, France are deserved winners but Saturday will be remembered for another statement performance from the world’s best winger. The ridiculous Louis Bielle-Biarrey finished the match with four tries. But ultimately it was Ramos’ boot and his 100% record from the tee that proved to be the difference in the narrowest of victories.
That just edged this for France, snatching the win to prevent England coming within 40 seconds of pulling off the unthinkable. Though this was by far England’s best performance of the Six Nations, after their defeats to Scotland, Ireland and Italy, this loss in Paris condemns this as statistically their worst ever campaign. It’s a bitter pill, and leaves Steve Borthwick with questions to answer when the RFU carry out their usual post-tournament review.
After the brilliant Irish performance we saw in Dublin and the outstanding Wales triumph over Italy in Cardiff to end three years of hurt, the final course of Le Crunch in Paris had incredibly high standards to live up to. But it delivered.
In what was a magnificent, extravagant occasion, both teams came into it under immense pressure, and while they both blinked at times and fell off the disciplinary tightrope, they also strung together passages of play which caused you to sit back and just gawp in wonder. Bielle-Biarrey was crowned man-of-the-match, but opposite them, spare a thought for Ollie Chessum and England captain Maro Itoje — both were immense. France scored six tries, England grabbed seven and still ended up losing. A bonkers game from a wonderfully bewitching, bewildering sport.
This epic drew the curtain on what has been a wonderful championship, the best for a long time. We’ve had statement performances every weekend with results shifting the narrative. Jobs have been on the line, only for the team to respond and shove criticism back down doubters’ throats.
We saw Wales get their first championship win since 2023, Italy cement themselves as a real force, France and Scotland playing some wonderous rugby, Ireland bouncing back from disappointment to remind everyone of their fearsome ability and then we witnessed England’s rapid change in fortunes and eventual slight upturn.
Bielle-Biarrey also finished with a try in each game for the second Six Nations running — a ridiculous return.
England came into the tournament talking about this final weekend’s match in Paris as being (hopefully) a title showdown with France. But instead, they came to Paris looking to right wrongs, with pride to play for and a chance to show they’d learnt from this trio of defeats.
Each of them had different concerning traits, but marrying all three were ill-discipline and an inability to convert territory into points when it mattered. The gameplan was questioned after that defeat in Rome. The leadership has been scrutinised. And the RFU released its statement last Sunday, backing Borthwick, but on the proviso things improve, quickly. It effectively gave Borthwick four games to sort things out and this was a response.
Itoje vowed that England would learn from this, but this was a side who looked desperate. England attacked from the outset, played with a varied attack and carried with real violence and vigour. They mixed up their kicking game, prodded and pushed in different areas and looked far more united than we’ve seen in the previous three rounds. Chessum was outstanding (but perhaps should’ve got closer to the posts with his intercept try), while the pack overall was brilliant.
The rolling maul was formidable, and their set piece solid. The bench also made a great impact — Henry Pollock was manically effective, while Marcus Smith was a threat in his 50th Test. But for missed kicks from the tee from Fin Smith, and a couple of questionable calls from referee Nika Amashukeli, England would have won this. Still, it’s a huge improvement on what we’ve seen recently.
This was the England we thought we would see this tournament — one unafraid to attack from all areas, but also packing plenty of punch when it mattered.
But we also saw a couple of their familiar shortcomings: the discipline cost them a penalty try on the stroke of half time, and during that spell with 14 players with Ellis Genge sin-binned, France scored a further two tries. England also looked susceptible in covering their back field, with France picking them off three times with kicks in behind. But after what we saw in the last three rounds this was refreshing.
It also begs the question: Where has this England been? Is this a team who can bring this type of performance when emotionally driven to do so, or is this them finally clicking having found a way to marry gameplan and intent? If only we had another round to find out more.
This match lived up to the rich 120-year history of Le Crunch. France wore their beautiful new-look light blue number, and the occasion was preceded by a slightly bizarre routine involving two horses and representations of both English and French military. In the middle of this was Frederic Michalak holding a leather rugby ball, and a group of kids playing rugby. It was a Le Crunch fever dream.
And from the outset, the pace never abated. Antoine Dupont played well at No.9, while Ramos was metronomic from the tee. Mathieu Jalibert steered them well from fly-half but this was Bielle-Biarrey’s night. What a player, the most ruthless finisher and he’s only 22-years-old.
Paris will be rocking tonight after this celebration of a bonkers, nonsensical sport. If only every Six Nations was like this but in the cold, quiet moments after this match, France will be relieved and delighted in equal measure.
Fabian Galthie can breathe, safe in the knowledge his team responded after that defeat in Murrayfield, and Les Bleus delivered, just. England will be gutted, but can be proud of this. But this only adds a little gloss to what has been a disastrous campaign for the standards they hold themselves to.
For England, this level of performance and intensity needs to be the benchmark, and not a one-off.
