Last-gasp Daly try gives England dramatic Six Nations win over France

England 26-25 France: Last-gasp Elliot Daly try seals dramatic Six Nations victory at Allianz Stadium

Last-gasp Elliot Daly try sees England to bonus-point Six Nations win over France at Twickenham; Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman, Fin Baxter also score for England; Louis Bielle-Biarrey (two), Damian Penaud scored tries for off-colour France, who looked to have won before late Daly effort

A superb England performance saw them get their Six Nations campaign back on track against an error-filled France, sealing a 26-25 victory at Twickenham courtesy of a last-gasp Elliot Daly try. 

Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored for France with five minutes to play to seemingly steal a dramatic win but England had other ideas.

Centre Ollie Lawrence, wing Tommy Freeman and replacement prop Fin Baxter also scored tries for the hosts as they fought back from six points down in the second half to lead by a point with nine minutes to play against a heavily-fancied French side.

Wings Bielle-Biarrey (two) and Damian Penaud scored tries for France, with full-back Thomas Ramos adding eight points via his boot.

Marcus Smith missed five points off the kicking tee, while in the absence of the suspended Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont was shifted out of position to fly-half for France in the second period, but they were never at their fluent best.

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France settled into the contest in possession quicker, but a series of handling errors in the wet conditions denied them an early opening score.

Centre Pierre-Louis Barassi sent an unsympathetic pass infield which Bielle-Biarrey couldn’t hold, second-row Alexandre Roumat spilled the ball in the England 22, Ramos missed a penalty from directly in front, Dupont couldn’t hold onto a pass in the corner and Penaud twice spilled ball on the attack – the second with a seemingly certain try on out left.

Eventually the French waves gave way to a score on the half-hour, as an England error in gifting possession back to Les Bleus saw Dupont pick up a poor Yoram Moefana offload which fell to deck, sprint to the outside of Fin Smith and find Penaud on the inside. The wing then produced a clever kick ahead which Bielle-Biarrey showed sizzling pace to reach and score.

England’s response to that try concession was superb, however, as Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman and Alex Mitchell each provided impetus going forward, forcing covering France prop Jean-Baptiste Gros to carry back over his try-line.

From five metres out, relentless England attack fuelled with bags of energy eventually brought them level – Lawrence handing off Ramos and running in after a Fin Smith spillage was checked by the TMO for a knock-on but proven as backwards.

France started the second half in much the same way they had the first: making errors.

Roumat knocked on again in the England 22, hooker Peato Mauvaka dropped a Bielle-Biarrey pass when being played in for a try, while No 8 Gregory Alldritt also spilled possession under little pressure.

On 50 minutes, the boot of Ramos edged France into the lead with England caught offside, but England – as they did throughout the Test – responded positively with Maro Itoje getting over the ball for a breakdown penalty.

The hosts turned down a shot at posts to level but it proved the wrong call when Mauvaka got over breakdown ball to complete a turnover.

A France scrum penalty won against the head saw Ramos stretch the lead to six points, but within two minutes Freeman soared to claim a superb Fin Smith cross-field kick which isolated Bielle-Biarrey.

Marcus Smith poorly missed the conversion wide for the lead, and before long France scored again through a Penaud try in the corner.

Smith missed the chance off the tee to cut France’s lead back to three points with another poor kick, but with nine minutes to go Baxter forced his way over – Fin Smith converting for a one-point advantage.

Bielle-Biarrey then seemed to win it as France ruthlessly punished England mistakes, but a scrum penalty set England up for one last attack, with replacement Daly exploding onto the ball and over to confirm victory.

Borthwick: England’s ceiling is massive

England head coach Steve Borthwick speaking to ITV:

“You want things to happen instantly. This England team is going to be a special team, there is a lot of young talent. Their ceiling is so high, but what you’ve got to do is keep working hard.

“Today, you saw some things improve, you saw their bravery, courage with the ball – they are a team who want to score tries. We scored four tries against a brilliant France defence and restricted them to three.

“It was an exciting Test match, I’m delighted for the players and exceptionally happy for the supporters, who are always magnificent behind this team and produced a special atmosphere.”

Player of the match Fin Smith salutes England fight

England fly-half Fin Smith speaking to ITV:

“It was back and forth. We have lost plenty of games and luckily this one went our way today. It was far from perfect but that group fought for it.

“We kept giving ourselves another shot and we got ourselves over the line in the end. Unbelievable atmosphere, I am delighted with that.

“Happy with it, I felt like a rabbit in the headlights in the first half. But I found my feet in the end, and I am delighted with the win more than anything but this is cool for a first start anyway.”

What’s next?

Following the first rest week, England are in action on Saturday, February 22 for the third round of the championship, hosting Scotland at Twickenham (4.45pm kick-off).

France next travel to face Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday, February 23 (3pm kick-off GMT), in Round 3 of the Six Nations.

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