Talk about a guillotine falling with brutal finality. England have endured some chastening days over the years but nothing on the scale of this record thumping by France, who had previously failed to win a Six Nations game in south-west London since 2005. If the home side were nowhere near good enough, Les Bleus were quite outstanding for the majority of a one-sided contest.
By the end even England’s worst ever day at Twickenham, the 42-6 thrashing by South Africa in 2008, was receding in the rear view mirror. Steve Borthwick’s squad had dared to hope this might be the weekend they glimpsed a brighter future coming over the horizon. Instead it proved to be the headlights of a speeding French TGV, smashing aside everything in its path.
The visitors, clearly fuelled by a desire to right a few historic wrongs, scored seven tries in all, with Thibaud Flament, Charles Ollivon and Damian Penaud each bagging two. In many ways this was an even more eye-catching Gallic triumph than their famous 51-0 demolition of Wales at Wembley in 1998 and this autumn’s Rugby World Cup in France cannot now come swiftly enough for them.
But whither England? Where to start. On a damp, rainy evening their ambitions of playing expansive rugby were cruelly exposed by opponents who possessed loads more power and panache. It would be harsh to blame Marcus Smith for all the other glaring deficiencies around him but England’s wet weather tactics were often questionable and their supposed new attacking dawn never remotely materialised.
England’s biggest problem was right in front of their noses. Collision-wise they were blown away and France also looked the fitter side. By the end, with the red rose defence being breached almost at will, the gulf between the teams was embarrassing. One French newspaper described it as “a massive kick up the backside” and that it was.
When paired with Friday night’s 42-7 defeat to France at under-20 level, this result should also finally kill off any lingering English delusions of grandeur. “We know what the reality is now,” muttered Borthwick, making no attempt to gloss over the blatantly obvious. Play as ineffectually as this in Dublin next week and another lower-half championship finish will tell its own stark story.
France, on the other hand, played as if it was Paris in the springtime rather than late winter in south-west London. More effective at the breakdown, more composed when it mattered and stronger in pretty much every other department, rumours of their demise as World Cup favourites have clearly been exaggerated.
They were 10 points up inside the first seven minutes, their young wing Ethan Dumortier intelligently drawing the last defender to allow Thomas Ramos to finish a move he had helped to start. Even before the top scorer in this season’s Six Nations added the conversion and a subsequent penalty it was already clear France were in no-nonsense mood, with the returning Jonathan Danty’s turnover ability among their most conspicuous plusses.
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It was no real surprise to anyone when France scored again, the ever-dangerous Antoine Dupont having given them an excellent platform with a sweet left-footed 50-22 kick. The visiting pack immediately scented rosbif blood and Flament, once a fly-half at Loughborough University, galloped unstoppably between both English centres to leave the hosts staring at a 17-0 deficit.
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Not until the 34th minute did England even make it on to the scoreboard and another in a series of costly knock-ons, this time from Alex Dombrandt, gifted the visitors another try-scoring opportunity on the stroke of half-time. If the dummy run of Penaud played some part in fooling the English blindside defence it was impossible not to admire the strength and skill of Grégory Alldritt as he stormed clear to put the supporting Ollivon over for France’s third try.
England had trailed by more than 24 at the interval only three times in their history, all in the southern hemisphere. At Twickenham in 2006 they trotted back after trailing 28-5 to New Zealand, going on to lose 41-20, but nowhere have they endured a championship humiliation like this.
Something had to change and Borthwick sent on Owen Farrell and Alex Mitchell for Henry Slade and Jack van Poortvliet in a vain attempt to staunch the bleeding. In truth, though, England could have changed half a dozen players without addressing the central issue. France were boulevards ahead in terms of gainline punch and cohesion and, even when Max Malins appeared to have scored from a nice cross-kick from Smith, the officials ruled the ball had not been grounded legally.
Freddie Steward did partially redress the balance with a 48th-minute score that pegged it back to 27-10 but it was to be the high point of England’s evening. First a kind bounce from Dupont’s chip allowed Ramos to put the impressive Flament over for his second try before Smith, under pressure on his own line, was scragged and dragged backwards, with the predatory Ollivon claiming the touchdown. Long before Penaud and friends further twisted the knife, dismayed home supporters could be seen heading for the exits, trying vainly to remember a more savage Twickenham denouement.
