England appeared to be suffering from a World Cup hangover in their first game since that final defeat to South Africa three months ago as France took full advantage. Eddie Jones made a few changes but it was the new-look French side under Fabien Galthie’s guideship that stole the show.
Vincent Rattez and France captain Charles Ollivon combined to capitalise on some lazy England defense in the opening exchanges to give the hosts a 21 – 0 lead at half-time.
England came out strong in the second half and had a number of opportunities to break back but it was France who went on to score again as Ollivon went over for a second time.
Jonny May came up with two individual pieces of brilliance for two magical tries to give England a glimmer of hope.
France managed to hold on but Owen Farrell did convert with the final touch of the game for the losing bonus point.
France vs England LI VE: Six Nations updates (Image: GETTY)
(France vs England RECAP
FINAL SCORE – France 39 – (England) (min – FULL-TIME:) France have done enough here. Excellent final minutes from England but it was too little too late . Certainly appeared to be some hangover from the World Cup final defeat three months ago. But that would be taking away from France’s incredible start.
350 min – France start celebrating after giving away a penalty with the game now over. Important kick from Farrell at the end though for the losing bonus point.
90 min
– Chance gone as Dupont cleans out Heinz with an exceptional tackle. Strange decision from England to come out of the scrum. That looks like it will be it.
77 min – Kruis with a powerful run at the France goal line and he gets over but some terrific defense to deny him! Scrum in front of the posts.
Jonny May scored two tries to spark England’s comeback (Image: GETTY)
)
min – Heinz drops it and Nigel Owens calls for a France scrum. Much better scrum from France this time around as they kick long out of play. England now running out of time.
76 min – England come away with it from a loose ball and once again attacking France’s 31. Still need two more scores in the final 13 minutes.
min – TRY ENGLAND!
That man Jonny May again with another piece of individual brilliance. This time he shows his pace with ball in hand as he skips bast four French players before sliding over the line. Simply sensational. Farrell converts again.
71 min – Encouraging signs at the scrum for England. Got to say there are quite a few French players offside after each breakdown.
(min ) – A prime example of how it’s going for England today. Beat France in their scrum but France able to pop it up and immediately go on the attack. A little mistake goes England’s way but then Ben Youngs just chucks it into touch.
min – TRY ENGLAND
! Individual piece of magic from Jonny May to finally get England on the scoreboard. Farrell with his first kick at goal and he converts for the extras.
71 min – Encouraging signs at the scrum for England. Got to say there are quite a few French players offside after each breakdown.
(min ) – A prime example of how it’s going for England today. Beat France in their scrum but France able to pop it up and immediately go on the attack. A little mistake goes England’s way but then Ben Youngs just chucks it into touch. min – TRY ENGLAND! Individual piece of magic from Jonny May to finally get England on the scoreboard. Farrell with his first kick at goal and he converts for the extras.
min – TRY FRANCE!
Ollivon starts it from the line out and he gets the ball back to him as he slides over the goal line.
Some pushing and shoving after as some French players are annoyed at how Luke Cowan-Dickie came diving in after Ollivon touched down. Nigel Owens opts against any punishment. Ntamack converts again.
(min – Ntamack taken clean out by Ellis Genge and the French crowd are furious no further action will be taken. Looked nasty on slow replay but nothing illegal about it.
(min )
– Poirot welcomes himself into the game by winning his side a penalty. England look disjointed and dispirited after that.
(min )
– Poirot welcomes himself into the game by winning his side a penalty. England look disjointed and dispirited after that.
Jonathan Joseph missed a chance to grab England’s first try (Image: GETTY)
min
) – It’s all gone wrong for England there! France get the turnover on their goal line. Huge roar from the Stade de France again as France kick clear.
min – Joseph with finds an inch of space but he drops it and is clattered! He’s saved though as France were penalized for being offside. Another scrum …
(min
) – England penalty! Wayward lineout from France and Itoje pounces. France immediately under pressure on their own line as England continually batter the defense. Unable to find a breakthrough but it’s a scrum right infront of the posts instead of the easy three points.
(min) – Eddie Jones sent his men out early for the start of the second half. No changes but looks like Tuilagi won’t be returning. They need something to change this half.
Second half
Thoughts from Express Sport’s Neil Squires at half-time
Owen Farrell leads England in the huddle on the pitch demanding an infinitely better second half from his men.
The first person he needs to be addressing is himself after one of his worst halves for England. His concrete-handed knock-ons summed up a really bad performance from the World Cup finalists.
As for France, they look reborn under Fabien Galthie and the crowd are right in behind the young tyros.
The one hope for England is that France remain capable of self-destructing. A year ago they led Wales 0 at half time in their opening match of the Six Nations only to be hauled in after the break and crash to defeat.
HALF-TIME – France – 0 England
) – England penalty! Wayward lineout from France and Itoje pounces. France immediately under pressure on their own line as England continually batter the defense. Unable to find a breakthrough but it’s a scrum right infront of the posts instead of the easy three points.
Owen Farrell leads England in the huddle on the pitch demanding an infinitely better second half from his men.
The first person he needs to be addressing is himself after one of his worst halves for England. His concrete-handed knock-ons summed up a really bad performance from the World Cup finalists. As for France, they look reborn under Fabien Galthie and the crowd are right in behind the young tyros.
Vincent Rattez led France’s early onslaught (Image GETTY)
min – England taking some big hits to try and break down France’s defense but they find no breakthrough before the ball is turned over. England need this break just to undergo plan b because this hasn’t worked at all.
(min
) – Small bust up in the midfield as England pick up a penalty in their own half. Kick to touch for one final chance to get points on the board.
(min) – Now eight handling errors from England. A rare mistake from France in the midfield but England are unable to take advantage.
(min
) – England line out in France’s and the improve from their last few efforts. Sinckler at the tail of a scrum before offloading it to Daly who powers to the 5-yard line. Gets moved to Youngs on the opposite wing but France get the penalty as he does not release in the tackle! A wasted opportunity there but another good turnover from France.
(min – A huge roar from the French crowd as they steal the ball in their own . A third overturn from England inside half hour. A brilliant kick puts England back inside their own 24
The view from our man Neil Squires in Paris
Shades of the World Cup final in this start by England as a revved-up French show they can do brutality too.
Shaun Edwards will be delighted with the weight of the defense so far with England on the receiving end of some hefty hits.
England may argue a knock-on from Vincent Rattez for the second French try but play to the whistle … schoolboy stuff. With Manu Tuilagi’s race run already , this is a serious challenge now for England.
min – TRY FRANCE!
England all at sea at the moment and they just stopped there expecting the whistle to be blown. Rattez picks up a loose ball before he pops it off to France captain Ollivon to slide over the line. Ntamack converts for the extra two.
) – England line out in France’s and the improve from their last few efforts. Sinckler at the tail of a scrum before offloading it to Daly who powers to the 5-yard line. Gets moved to Youngs on the opposite wing but France get the penalty as he does not release in the tackle! A wasted opportunity there but another good turnover from France.
(min – A huge roar from the French crowd as they steal the ball in their own . A third overturn from England inside half hour. A brilliant kick puts England back inside their own 24
The view from our man Neil Squires in Paris
Shades of the World Cup final in this start by England as a revved-up French show they can do brutality too.
Shaun Edwards will be delighted with the weight of the defense so far with England on the receiving end of some hefty hits.
England may argue a knock-on from Vincent Rattez for the second French try but play to the whistle … schoolboy stuff. With Manu Tuilagi’s race run already , this is a serious challenge now for England.
min – TRY FRANCE!
England all at sea at the moment and they just stopped there expecting the whistle to be blown. Rattez picks up a loose ball before he pops it off to France captain Ollivon to slide over the line. Ntamack converts for the extra two.
Shades of the World Cup final in this start by England as a revved-up French show they can do brutality too. England may argue a knock-on from Vincent Rattez for the second French try but play to the whistle … schoolboy stuff. With Manu Tuilagi’s race run already , this is a serious challenge now for England.
Eddie Jones has made a number of changes to his England team (Image: GETTY)
(min) – Worse news for England as Tuilagi has been forced off the field with Joseph coming on to replace him.
(min)
Penalty France! Ntamack sends up a high ball into the corner but Daly is beaten to collect it and Ewels ends up giving awa y the penalty. Ntamack converts for the three points.
min – England second best to every breakdown so far. France whipping the ball around from side to side with ease.
6 min – TRY FRANCE! Rattez the man to take it over the line but some excellent quick passing from the French side to break through England’s back line. Ntamack sends it over the extras.
4 min – England almost break through immediately as Jonny May makes a dart up the field only to be stopped by the French defense.
Another snippet from Express Sport man Neil Squires
French crowd at the Stade de France concentrating their traditional pre-match team rundown booing on Owen Farrell. Eddie Jones on the receiving end too after his talk of a brutal rugby lesson heading France’s way.
1 min – Looks like a cracking atmosphere at Stade de France. There’s a level of optimism around this France side as well in a new World Cup cycle. England will need a fast start to get on top of that.
And we’re underway!
Penalty France! Ntamack sends up a high ball into the corner but Daly is beaten to collect it and Ewels ends up giving awa y the penalty. Ntamack converts for the three points.
French crowd at the Stade de France concentrating their traditional pre-match team rundown booing on Owen Farrell. Eddie Jones on the receiving end too after his talk of a brutal rugby lesson heading France’s way.
Owen Farrell is leading England for the first time since the World Cup final ( Image: GETTY)
Express Sport man Neil Squires reports from Paris as England prepare to do battle with France:
England running through a lot of broken-field kick return counter-attack in the warm-up at a damp Stade de France. Conditions might favor a pragmatic approach with the slippery ball but it looks as if England may have it in their minds to play.
Well, I guess you don’t become the greatest side rugby has ever seen with kick and clap.
Eddie Jones
“” It’s a new tournament, we’re excited to be part of the best tournament in the world and facing this young French side.
“We’ve been through some grieving after the World Cup final, we’ve reflected on what we did and we’re in a good position to start our campaign here today. “George Furbank is a good young player, his core skills and positional sense are very impressive.”
England team
George Furba nk is the man who comes in for the injured Anthony Watson in England’s back line to make his England debut.
Mako Vunipola is being rested by Eddie Jones while Ellis Genge has been named on the bench .
2. : pm: Here’s a run down of the teams:
France: – Anthony Bouthier, – Teddy Thomas, – Virimi Vakatawa, – Gael Fickou, – Vincent Rattez, – Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont; 1-Cyril Baille, 2-Julien Marchand, 3-Mohamed Haouas, 4-Bernard Le Roux, 5-Paul Willemse, 6-Francois Cros, 7-Charles Ollivon, 8-Gregory Alldritt Replacements: – Peato Mauvaka, – Jefferson Poirot, – Demba Bamba, – Boris Palu, – Cameron Woki, 24 – Baptiste Serin, 31 – Matthieu Jalibert, – TBC England: – George Furbank, – Jonny May, – Manu Tuilagi, – Owen Farrell (captain), – Elliot Daly , 14 – George Ford, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Joe Marler, 2-Jamie George, 3-Kyle Sinckler, 4-Maro Itoje, 5-Charlie Ewels, 6-Courtney Lawes, 7-Sam Underhill, 8-Tom Curry Replacements: – Luke Cowan-Dickie, – Ellis Genge, – Will Stuart, – George Kruis,
– Lewis Ludlam, 26 – Willi Heinz, -Ollie Devoto, – Jonathan Joseph
2pm:
Good afternoon and welcome to Express Sport’s live blog as England start their 2019 Six Nations with a trip to France.
There’s plenty of anticipation building ahead of kick off with England for playing the first time since the heartbreaking World Cup final defet three months ago. Kick off is an hour away so stay tuned as we bring you live updates throughout.
Express Sport man Neil Squires reports from Paris as England prepare to do battle with France:
England running through a lot of broken-field kick return counter-attack in the warm-up at a damp Stade de France. Conditions might favor a pragmatic approach with the slippery ball but it looks as if England may have it in their minds to play.
Well, I guess you don’t become the greatest side rugby has ever seen with kick and clap.
Eddie Jones
“” It’s a new tournament, we’re excited to be part of the best tournament in the world and facing this young French side.
“We’ve been through some grieving after the World Cup final, we’ve reflected on what we did and we’re in a good position to start our campaign here today. “George Furbank is a good young player, his core skills and positional sense are very impressive.”
England team
George Furba nk is the man who comes in for the injured Anthony Watson in England’s back line to make his England debut.
Mako Vunipola is being rested by Eddie Jones while Ellis Genge has been named on the bench .
2. : pm: Here’s a run down of the teams:
France: – Anthony Bouthier, – Teddy Thomas, – Virimi Vakatawa, – Gael Fickou, – Vincent Rattez, – Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont; 1-Cyril Baille, 2-Julien Marchand, 3-Mohamed Haouas, 4-Bernard Le Roux, 5-Paul Willemse, 6-Francois Cros, 7-Charles Ollivon, 8-Gregory Alldritt Replacements: – Peato Mauvaka, – Jefferson Poirot, – Demba Bamba, – Boris Palu, – Cameron Woki, 24 – Baptiste Serin, 31 – Matthieu Jalibert, – TBC England: – George Furbank, – Jonny May, – Manu Tuilagi, – Owen Farrell (captain), – Elliot Daly , 14 – George Ford, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Joe Marler, 2-Jamie George, 3-Kyle Sinckler, 4-Maro Itoje, 5-Charlie Ewels, 6-Courtney Lawes, 7-Sam Underhill, 8-Tom Curry Replacements: – Luke Cowan-Dickie, – Ellis Genge, – Will Stuart, – George Kruis,
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