England fly-half As France’s wing Damian Penaud celebrates with teammates after scoring their sixth try, Marcus Smith is defeated.
The guillotine swinging its cruel, last blade. There have been some discouraging days for England over the years, but none on the same level as this record-breaking victory by France, who hadn’t previously won a Six Nations game in south-west London since 2005.
If the home side were nowhere near good enough, Les Bleus were rather spectacular for the majority of a one-sided contest. By the end, even South Africa’s 42-6 thrashing of England in 2008 at Twickenham was starting to fade from memory.
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The team of Steve Borthwick dared to dream that this would be the weekend when they saw a glimpse of a more promising future. Instead, it turned out to be the headlights of a French TGV hurtling down the road, destroying everything in its route.
The visitors scored seven tries in total, with Thibaud Flament, Charles Ollivon, and Damian Penaud each scoring two, apparently motivated by a desire to make up for some historical wrongs.
Six Nations: England 10-53 France
This was arguably an even more impressive Gallic victory than their infamous 51-0 thrashing of Wales at Wembley in 1998, and for them, the Rugby World Cup in France this fall cannot come soon enough.
How will England fare? How to begin. On a soggy, dreary night, opponents with a ton more strength and panache mercilessly exposed their aspirations of playing wide rugby.
Marcus Smith shouldn’t be held responsible for the other obvious flaws all around him, but England’s rainy weather strategies were frequently suspect, and their ostensible new offensive dawn never materialized.
The biggest issue facing England was right in front of them. They were destroyed in terms of collisions, and France appeared to be the more physically fit team.
Towards the end, the gap between the teams was embarrassing as the red rose defense was nearly routinely overcome. It was indeed “a huge kick up the backside,” as one French newspaper put it.
This outcome should also put an end to any remaining English illusions of grandeur, especially in light of Friday night’s 42-7 loss to France at the under-20 level.
Borthwick mumbled, making no attempt to hide the glaringly apparent, “We know what the reality is now. Next week in Dublin, play this ineffectively, and another lower-half championship finish will tell its own sobering tale.
France, on the other hand, played as though it were late winter in south-west London as opposed to Paris in the spring. Rumors of their death as Rugby World Cup favorites have obviously been overblown because they are definitely more proficient at the breakdown, more composed when it counts, and stronger in pretty much every other area.
Within the first seven minutes, they had a 10-point lead thanks to their rookie wing Ethan Dumortier’s deft drawing of the final defender, which allowed Thomas Ramos to complete the move he had assisted in starting.
It was already obvious that France were in a no-nonsense mode before the highest scorer in this year’s Six Nations added the conversion and a following penalty, with the returning Jonathan Danty’s turnover ability among their most glaring advantages.
Everyone was not particularly surprised when France scored again since the dangerous Antoine Dupont had provided them with a strong foundation with a lovely left-footed 50-22 kick.
Flament, a former fly-half at Loughborough University, sprinted unrestrainedly between both English centers as soon as the visiting pack smelled rosbif blood, leaving the hosts facing a 17-0 disadvantage.
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Only three times in their history, all in the southern hemisphere, has England trailed by more than 24 at the interval.
They came back at Twickenham in 2006 after falling behind New Zealand 28-5 and lost that match 41-20, but they have never experienced a championship humiliation like this.
Although Freddie Steward’s goal in the 48th minute brought the score back to 27-10, it was only the high point of England’s evening.