Match Report – France 48 – 46 England

France celebrate with the Six Nations trophy

England fell agonisingly short of a famous victory in Paris as Thomas Ramos’ last-gasp penalty saw France snatch a stunning 48-46 victory to retain their Six Nations title.

Ramos nailed a long-range penalty with the clock in the red to settle a 13-try thriller which England looked to have won when Tommy Freeman crossed with four minutes remaining.

An England win would have handed the championship to Ireland, who had overtaken France at the summit following their win over Scotland, but Les Bleus had the final say of an gripping final day to clinch a third title in five years.

It took Ramos’ kick to decide a try-filled epic, with Louis Bielle-Biarrey scoring two tries in each half and Ollie Chessum bagging a double, including a stunning intercept try.

Thomas Ramos celebrates with Antoine Dupont after his last-gasp penalty kick won the match

England had recovered from two early sucker-punches by Bielle-Biarrey to dominate an end-to-end first half. They at one stage led by 10 points but a late penalty try, coupled with the sin-binning of Ellie Genge, saw it shaved to 27-24 at the interval and France made their man advantage count after the restart with two further tries.

The lead continued to change hands, with Marcus Smith coming off the bench to mark his 50th England cap with a try. It was easily England’s best performance of the championship, a far cry from the insipid display against Italy, but it ultimately ended in a gut-wrenching defeat.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored four tries against England

Steve Borthwick’s side finish fifth in the Six Nations table having lost four games for the first time, yet with reasons for optimism heading into their summer Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.

France sported a light blue kit to celebrate 120 years of this fixture and they got off to a dream start when Ramos grubbered up the wing and Bielle-Biarrey beat Cadan Murley to the bouncing ball and scored.

Ramos converted but England’s response was also immediate. Their half-backs dictated a sustained attacking spell which resulted in Elliot Daly sending Tom Roebuck over in the corner.

England quickly undid their good work by switching off in defence as Mathieu Jalibert’s lovely left-footed kick put Bielle-Biarrey in, but they hit back once again through Murley who pounced after Theo Attisogbe failed to gather Ben Spencer’s kick in behind.

Murley rescued England at the other end by preventing Jalibert from latching onto his own chip and chase, but France extended their lead to 17-10 through a Ramos penalty.

Alex Coles scores England’s fourth try

England were crashing over the gainline with regularity and they began to dominate at the set-piece, with a powerful driving maul carving out a try for Chessum, with Fin Smith’s conversion making it 17-17.

It was rinse and repeat for England fourth try on 33 minutes as they took the lead for the first time. A catch and drive earned them penalty advantage before Spencer looped a pass out wide to Chessum, who fed inside to Alex Coles. Smith’s drop-kick conversion put them 24-17 ahead.

A rattled France coughed up another offside penalty, which Smith kicked to extend England’s lead to 10, but there was further drama in the final play of a breathless first half.

Back-to-back penalties gifted France access to the opposition 22 and Genge was yellow-carded for dragging down an advancing French maul. Penalty try and England’s half-time advantage cut to three.

Theo Attissogbe touched down while Ellis Genge was in the sin bin

France further punished the sin-binning after the restart. Antoine Dupont teed Bielle-Biarrey up for his hat-trick before a quick tap penalty from the scrum-half sent Attissogbe over in the other corner, Ramos converting both to give France an 11-point advantage.

But just when France looked to be racing to victory, up popped Chessum with a stunning intercept try, the flanker galloping clear from deep inside his own half.

England suddenly found themselves back in front when Marcus Smith marked his introduction with a wonderfully taken try, which he converted to make it 39-38.

Bielle-Biarrey’s fourth try, from a Dupont kick downfield off a turnover, stung England but they hit back again after France had prop Demba Bamba sin-binned.

Marcus Smith took his time with the conversion but it wasn’t enough, as Ramos held his nerve for the most dramatic of victories.