France 12-10 England: Flair takes French leave

Published on Saturday 20 March 2010 22:59

THIS wasn't, in truth, a very grand Slam. Thomas Lievremont's France have undoubtedly been the best side in this year's Six Nations Championship and had already won the Championship before this match began, yet yesterday they set out to parody themselves, performing like a one-dimensional crew with an ambition deficit.

They didn't so much grasp the nettle as bludgeon their way to a Grand Slam via a dominant scrum and the boot of scrum-half and kicker Morgan Parra. It was such un-Gallic percentage rugby that there was a temptation to ask the boys in blue whether they were England in disguise.

If the previously free-running French had adopted many of the worst characteristics of their guests, then Martin Johnson's England had performed a similarly surprising volte face, turning up at the Stade de France full of the sort of running intent which has been notably absent in their play to this point. Indeed, they were qualities which until now had been more or less the exclusive preserve of their hosts.

That France eventually prevailed against an England side which was transformed by the addition of Ben Foden, Mike Tindall, Toby Flood and Chris Ashton to its back division was in considerable doubt during the early exchanges in Paris. It was only when the heavens opened and the previously dry pitch became a quagmire and the ball a slippery pill that France began to establish a foothold in this match via the kicking game of stand-off Francois Trinh-Duc and the booming boot of fullback Clement Poitrenaud.

For much of the first half – until the deluge started, in fact – this game looked as if it might follow the same pattern that decided the match in Dublin. England, huge underdogs and facing a French side which turned up as confident that they would earn a Grand Slam as Ireland were that they would collect a Triple Crown, took the game to their hosts, running the ball from everywhere and bowling over Frenchmen at every breakdown.

France were, unsurprisingly, taken aback. Johnson's side have become a byword for stolid, unimaginative play, yet the men in white were a side transformed. Perhaps it was the fact that they had nothing to lose, perhaps they were emboldened by their impressive record in Paris, perhaps Johnno has had a Damascene conversion; whatever the case, it translated to an English approach that temporarily stunned the home side.

If Trinh-Duc had given the hosts an early advantage when he kicked a drop-goal after just three minutes when England were penalised at the scrum, it was England who seized the early initiative with a piece of running rugby full of invention, verve and elan.

The match was only five minutes old when Flood initiated a move just inside the French half which went through seven phases. It was the deft hands of Chris Ashton that secured the breakthrough, with the former rugby league wing's quick offload putting Foden in the clear down the left touchline. The Northampton fullback has been the form player of the Premiership this year and he scorched past Mathieu Bastareaud before outpacing wing Marc Andrieu to slide over in the corner. When Flood kicked the conversion from the touchline, England had an entirely unexpected but deserved 7-3 lead.

It wasn't to last though. In a brutal war of attrition, France had the upper hand because, in another echo of the game in Dublin, their scrum was completely dominant throughout. Kiwi referee Bryce Lawrence took a couple of nano-seconds to come to the conclusion that rookie tighthead prop Dan Cole was the cause of a succession of collapsed scrums, with the end result that virtually every scrum ended with the unfortunate Englishman being pinged.

With the rain lashing down and France's halfbacks Parra and Trinh-Duc kicking for territory at every opportunity, the slippery ball and Cole's inability to hold his ground combined to undo England. France got back to within a point of England halfway through the first half when Ricky Flutey went off his feet, but the other two first-half penalties slotted over by Parra both came directly from Cole being penalised.

With France keeping the ball so effectively, it was no surprise when the two teams turned around at half-time with France leading 12-7. Neither side could have known it, but with the hard-fought second half even more barren a spectacle than the first, that was to be a winning lead. After the break it was England who began to dominate possession, and with the outstanding Mike Tindall consistently providing some much needed go-forward on his return to the fold, England began to claw their way back into the match.

The inexplicable decision to take Tindall off just ten minutes into the second half was a bizarre move that will increase the pressure upon Johnson still further. Even without the shaven-haded centre England still had chances in the second half and Jonny Wilkinson, on as a substitute, added a huge penalty with just over ten minutes remaining – yet ultimately the French squeezed the life out of this game in a fashion that would be all-too familiar to England teams of the mid-nineties.