England surrendered their NatWest 6 Nations title to Ireland with a round to spare after a 22-16 defeat by France completed their worst Championship performance since 2010.
Eddie Jones’ side needed a bonus-point win over France to keep their Six Nations title hopes alive after Ireland took maximum points in their 28-8 victory against Scotland.
However, they never dominated in a penalty-strewn and scrappy match at Stade de France, with Les Bleus’ superiority at the breakdown seeing them edge to victory.
#FRAvENG | It’s full time in Paris and France have beaten England in the #NatWest6Nations.
Congratulations @FFRugby. pic.twitter.com/rryqxSTqQA
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 10, 2018
Tweet of the match
Very depressing ! Not enough players showing rugby intelligence – we are not reacting / thinking as we need to……
— Will Carling (@willcarling) March 10, 2018
Star man – Yacouba Camara
Moment of the match
Stat attack
Congratulations @IrishRugby ?
See you next week at Twickenham… pic.twitter.com/61ZAJbSSpG
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 10, 2018
England conceded 16 penalties against France – a statistic boss Eddie Jones will be far from thrilled with. Their forwards came up short and were outplayed by France, who arguably produced their best performance in the last 18 months to destroy England’s Six Nations title hopes.
Who’s up next?
Wales v France, NatWest 6 Nations – March 17
England v Ireland, NatWest 6 Nations – March 17.
