Big dramatic finishes are fast becoming England’s norm, but the irony this week was that the Red Rose men fell just the wrong side of the high theatre.
Tommy Freeman’s gun-slinging celebration, and George Ford’s nerveless touchline conversion, stole England a 31-29 lead with less than five minutes to play in Lyon.
Steve Borthwick’s side thought they were about to repeat last week’s last-gasp 23-22 win over Ireland, and on the road too.
But Thomas Ramos and his siege-gun boot had other ideas. The France fly-half blasted his fourth penalty, from all of 50 metres, and Les Blues inched over the line, 33-31.
England outscored France by four tries to three, but both teams played with ambition and attacking abandon. Defensive stability was in short supply, but the punters loved it. England were loving it too, and so nearly pulled off another startling triumph.
The champagne goes to the men in the Cotes Du Rhone sadly, but hats off to Fabien Galthie for dragging France through a testing tournament.
Tip of the cap to England boss Borthwick too, for steering England to three wins from five in a Six Nations campaign for the first time since 2020.
Tangible progress, and, defensive lapses aside, a team of substance, bite – and real promise.
Ollie Lawrence scored twice, Marcus Smith crossed, too, as England struck three times in just six minutes. Freeman’s try and Ford’s 100 per cent kicking return so nearly had them home and hosed.
Instead, Nolann Le Garrec, Leo Barre and Gael Fickou saw their tries augmented by Ramos’ wonder boot for France to swipe glory.
The Lyon stadium played host to a dramatic sound and light show before kick-off, and the hosts took up that razzmatazz energy from the off.
England lost full-back George Furbank to a suspected calf injury in the opening exchanges, pressing Smith into near immediate action at 15 off the bench.
The home crowd showed their intent by booing Ford for calling a mark, of all things. Ford slotted a penalty to hand England the initial lead, but that did not last.
Smith was caught pushing the envelope on halfway, Julien Marchand won a smart jackal penalty, and Ramos booted over.
England were about to settle down, when France stole a lineout on their own 22 and promptly scored from that very same phase.
Fickou stormed through a gaping hole in England’s defence, that could not switch from attack anywhere near quickly enough.
Three passes later, and scrum-half Le Garrec was under the posts. Ramos’ conversion meant France led 10-3 at the end of the first quarter.
England were sent from France’s 22 to their own try line in a flash again, when Lawrence lost the ball in contact and Damian Penaud booted deep. Smith had to sweep the ball down, taking it over his own line in the process.
That ultimately led to Ramos’ second penalty, and the home fly-half added a third goal off the tee to push Les Bleus’ lead to 16-3.
Just when England looked on the ropes though, the visitors got a foothold through a sequence of lineouts deep in French territory.
The end result was a well-constructed but simple score for Lawrence, who ghosted onto a weak defensive shoulder from Fickou to slide home from Henry Slade’s pass.
Ford’s lurking presence behind the attacking line gave France pause for thought, and the hesitation was just enough for Lawrence to strike. Ford’s conversion left France leading 16-10 at half-time, and England back in the game.
England’s half-time team talk worked wonders. Freeman powered down the wing, Ben Earl stormed through the middle and Lawrence commando crawled home for his second try.
Ford’s conversion stole England a 17-16 lead, the first time they had held the advantage since the match’s opening minutes.
Then, in a flash, England scored again. Earl’s latest barnstorming break, set free by Ellis Genge’s astute pass, had the Red Rose men running amok once more.
Earl was able to find Smith in support, and the Quins man stepped out of one challenge, then stiff-armed his way through another for a high-quality try.
Ford converted for England to lead 24-16, and France were in genuine disarray when Ramos missed touch with a penalty.
The crowd launched into a rendition of Le Marseillaise in a desperate bid to stir their heroes into a response.
And just as quickly as England had struck at the double at the top of the half, so France followed suit to end the third quarter back in front.
Full-back Barre cantered in as England simply ran out of defenders after relentless waves of French raiders.
Ramos converted to leave England leading by a point, but that was gone when Fickou raced under the posts.
England only led for 18 minutes, in fact. Theo Dan’s overthrown lineout sailed into midfield, where Ramos volleyed on instinctively.
The football assist landed neatly for the onrushing Fickou, who applied the finish without issue. Ramos’ conversion had France leading 30-24 on the hour.
Ramos had the chance to extend France’s lead from a penalty after Freeman’s deliberate knock-on, but dragged his effort wide in the first miss of the day from either side.
Replacement Alex Dombrandt then pulled off a masterful jackal turnover, and England struck again. Ford punted the penalty to the corner, and England made the calculated gamble count.
The Sale fly-half’s cute tip-on pass created the time and space, and Freeman romped into the corner.
Ford then shook off any nerves to land the touchline conversion and put England into a 31-30 lead with just five minutes to play.
Breathless enough for you? Not at all. France had the last word and laugh, as Ramos stepped up for a penalty shot from fully halfway and booted it home with metres to spare.
England restarted and scrambled to try to steal the ball, but France ticked down the final minute, and sealed a tense win amid a wonderful atmosphere.
