England 10 – 53 France

Charles Ollivon scored twice as France destroyed England at Twickenham for a first Six Nations win in the stadium since 2005

France secured a first Six Nations victory at Twickenham for 18 years as ruthless efficiency and power in the face of an error-ridden England brought a comprehensive 53-10 success. 

A totally dominant first half saw full-back Thomas Ramos, second-row Thibaud Flament and back-row Charles Ollivon cross for Les Bleus tries, with Ramos adding two penalties and all three conversions.

England rallied to score early in the second half as a Freddie Steward try was added to Marcus Smith’s solitary first-half penalty, but France then clicked into gear with a quick-fire double through Flament and Ollivon again, before wing Damian Penaud added two more.

The defeat – a humiliating record loss at Twickenham, and the most points ever shipped in a Test on home soil – all but ends England’s title chances for 2023 and leaves head coach Steve Borthwick with much to ponder, while France remain in the hunt heading into Round 5, with their eyes sure to be fixed on leaders Ireland on Sunday vs Scotland at Murrayfield.

England were humiliated on their own turf, suffering a record Twickenham defeat

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England head coach Steve Borthwick said he was ‘incredibly disappointed’ with the performance

Inside two minutes, a confident looking France struck for a stunning opening try as forwards Ollivon and Flament both offloaded out of tackles brilliantly for left wing Ethan Dumortier to show his searing pace, and pass on for Ramos to score in the corner. The full-back got to his feet to convert too with a gorgeous strike.

Thomas Ramos got over for the opening try inside the first two minutes

Les Bleus continued in rampaging form for the opening few minutes, and after No 8 Gregory Alldritt roared forward once Henry Slade and Smith had shot up, an offside penalty against Steward allowed Ramos to increase the French lead with a penalty curled over off the tee.

A penalty against returning France centre Jonathan Danty for failing to roll away granted England some much-needed access onto the 22, but the subsequent lineout ball was scrappy, before Danty made up for his previous error with a superb breakdown turnover. Further England frustration was then palpable five minutes later as skipper Ellis Genge knocked on at a ruck within the France half in heavy rain.

Poor kicks from England fly-half Smith and wing Max Malins saw the hosts’ next promising moment pass, before a penalty against Lewis Ludlam for sealing off invited France onto the attack, only for centre Gael Fickou to execute his own poor kick. Indeed, kicking was proving the theme of the day, as both sides chose not to look to play in the wet conditions and a sliced Ramos clearance gave way to an England penalty forced at the maul.

Genge and Smith decided not to slot the kickable penalty for points, however – kicking to the corner instead – but it proved a costly call when the ensuing rolling maul struggled for momentum and Ollivon was able to turn over possession when the ball squeaked out at a ruck – a mistake compounded when Anthony Watson knocked on a loose Antoine Dupont kick just outside the England 22 under no pressure.

France failed to make that territory count again, but a gorgeous Dupont 50:22 – produced within moments via his weaker left foot – afforded Les Bleus the chance to score a second try, which they took ruthlessly through the powerful Flament, who charged past Slade and through the tackle of Ludlam to dive over. Ramos converted for a 17-0 lead, and things got no brighter for England when blocking by Kyle Sinckler at a maul in the 22 saw another glorious platform passed up.

Thibaud Flament forced his way over for France’s second, and scored his own second later in the game

In the 34th minute, England finally registered themselves onto the scoreboard as Smith struck over a penalty after Danty was penalised for offside. But directly from the restart, those points were wiped out as Sinckler was penalised for hands in the ruck after a France counter-ruck had gained success far too easily, and Ramos clipped over off the tee for 20-3. The away side were then indebted to Alldritt during their own restart defence, as the No 8 won a turnover penalty after Jack Willis had charged down Dupont.

A poor Alex Dombrandt knock-on outside the England 22 handed France one final attack of the half, and after a dominant scrum raced forward to generate penalty advantage, Alldritt then offloaded for his back-row colleague Ollivon to sprint at and over the ineffective speedbump that was the helpless Smith, leaving the half-time score a formidable 27-3 once Ramos converted.

Charles Ollivon powered over for France’s third try in the final play of the first half

England thought they were in for their first try six minutes into the second half, but replays showed Malins never had control as he looked to ground a fizzed Smith cross-field kick-pass. Within 90 seconds, England put that disappointment behind them and were over through full-back Steward, who stormed over the top of Ramos to score. And the Twickenham crowd were up again moments later when a scrum penalty won against the head made up for a Smith knock-on.

Freddie Steward got over for England’s only try early in the second half, but it was downhill again after that

Yet, the England 10 missed touch with the penalty from hand as England continued to make elementary mistakes, and were made to pay when Flament raced in for his second try after Romain Ntamack had cleverly batted back a bouncing Dupont chip which Steward and Ollie Lawrence dallied beneath.

Less than three minutes later, France had a fifth try as a superb Ramos break from deep saw the full-back dab a kick ahead, and once the chasing Les Bleus players put Smith in all sorts of trouble on top of his own try-line, Ollivon reached across a pile of white shirts to ground the ball – a score confirmed by referee Ben O’Keeffe after consultation with TMO Brett Cronan.

There remained time for Penaud to notch his brace: First he collected a Fickou kick ahead, and once isolated with Dombrandt, his pace rendered the one-on-one contest obsolete, before a sweeping move three minutes later saw him dive over in the corner, triggering England fans to exit Twickenham in their droves.

Damian Penaud got over for two tries within the final 10 minutes

What they said…

England captain Ellis Genge told ITV Sport…

“We were [well-beaten]. By 43 points. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, it was probably one of the worst performances we’ve ever had.

“It shows that when you’re against a team that’s that well-coached and clinical, if you’re 10-20 per cent off you’re going to get punished. And we were punished numerous times.

“We asked the boys to keep fighting and for 80 per cent of it we were, but there’s 20 per cent where we weren’t, and we got punished big time.

“What was missing? Just momentum was against us for too long. And they built a great score. I’m not going to hide away from it. We were well beaten today.

“They were brilliant. They have shown time and time why they’re No 2 in the world. We’re way off where we want to be.”

What’s next?

England conclude their 2023 Six Nations campaign with an away fixture as they face title-chasing Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin next Saturday March 18 (5pm kick-off GMT).

France conclude their Six Nations with a home match vs Wales at the Stade de France next Saturday March 18 (2.45pm kick-off GMT).