- England secured their first Six Nations win courtesy of last-minute Elliot Daly try
- France led until the closing stages before emphatic comeback at Allianz Stadium
At the end of the match, Fin Smith ran over to his friends and family in the East Stand and was enveloped into a giant, beery group hug. The same friends and family who followed him around the country as a schoolboy, when he idolised Novak Djokovic and dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player.
This was the day he showed all the determination and composure of his Grand Slam hero to become the toast of Twickenham. He was flanked by photographers and videographers. Everyone arrived here eulogising about Antoine Dupont but they left with eyes for England’s new No 10.
So often operating in the shadow of his namesake, Marcus Smith, this was night the play-maker from Northampton announced himself in the Test arena.
He set up two tries in the second half as England finally discovered their mettle, keeping his cool to convert Elliot Daly’s last-minute try and deliver a chaotic and cathartic victory.
Twickenham was drowned in a thick, soupy fog. A surge of rainfall washed away the ticket touts’ profits and also washed away France’s advantage. France are majestic but England are meticulous. Slaves to detail. Slippery conditions left things to the mercy of the weather. Steve Borthwick tapped the conditions into his strategic calculator, like he did on that biblical night against the Springboks in Paris.
The English were more than happy for any rhythm to be washed out of the equation. Tom Curry was the arch nuisance, turning every collision into a street fight. France had the bulk of the attacking possession but left with nothing but a bonus point to show for it.
Not since the World Cup quarter-final in 2023 has Dupont started and lost a match and his glorious run is now over. England made him look human.
He is rugby’s paradox: get too close and get burnt. He was often left alone at the ruck. Target him at your peril. Hit him in the guts and get slipped. Honeypot him and get stung out wide.
Unlike Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, Dupont does not have full control of his destiny. One man does not win you a rugby match. His name is not on the ticket.
‘Get Jalibert!’ shouted the English defenders, with their back-up No 10 missing half of his tackles in the first half. Rather than hit Dupont, England instead looked at the man he was passing to. Alexandre Roumat folded and fumbled when Curry hit him in the ribs when he collected a long pass from the base of the ruck.
Dupont and Damian Penaud both dropped the ball in early try-scoring positions and Thomas Ramos sent his first penalty wide of the posts. This was not France’s day.
Maro Itoje threw Penaud’s boot across the pitch as the hosts did everything they could to disrupt. Tom Willis was another arch trouble-maker. Eventually, with 30 minutes on the clock, the slippery loose ball bounced the way of the French.
A stray pass landed in the grasp of Francois Cros and the French attacked. Dupont gathered a loose offload and charged past Fin, passing inside to Penaud whose kick was touched down by Pierre-Louis Barassi. Yet the floodgates never opened.
England’s scrum impressed and Ollie Lawrence won collisions. The French struggled to hold onto the ball and it came back to bite them. Attacking with his head up, Henry Slade identified hooker Peato Mauvaka defending on the wing and England targeted him. They ended up with a lineout and, seven slippery phases later, Lawrence capitalised from a bouncing ball, swatting off Ramos to level the score at half-time.
France’s errors continued into the second-half, with two Ramos penalties soothing the disappointment of Mauvaka’s spilled attacking opportunity.
This English team are a group of spoilers. Disrupters. Their game plan is based upon studying opposition and taking away their strength. Figuring a plan to make them come unstuck. It has worked well for 50 minutes in recent months and here, finally, their finishers found a way to finish the job.
Ben Curry joined his brother off the bench and doubled down on the breakdown. England caused chaos at the restart, with Tommy Freeman linking up with his club team-mate to disrupt. Switching the direction of play, the Saints duo linked up once more as Freeman claimed a Crossfield kick from his NO 10 to narrow the deficit.
Penaud pulled back with a score down the right wing. Borthwick crossed his arms and let out a sigh as Marcus Smith missed a penalty. He had seen this movie before and 70,000 shared his frustration.
But England’s bench was loaded with experience and Jamie George added a steady hand with the lineout. Fin Baxter powered over from the back of a set-piece platform but the lead swung like a pendulum.
Dupont gathered the ball in his own 22 and the French galloped downfield for Bielle-Biarrey to score. Approaching the final whistle, a giant English maul became the epicentre of the action. All eyes were on a rumbling pile of bodies but Fin Smith was looking elsewhere.
He took the ball in the middle of the pitch and fed it to Daly, the old rocker who joined him from the bench. Daly shrugged of Dupont to score under the post and, subject to gathering the final restart, victory finally belonged to the English.
