Final Up to date: 14/03/26 10:32pm
France’s Thomas Ramos celebrates with Antoine Dupont after his last-gasp penalty kick wins the match
England fell agonisingly wanting a well-known victory in Paris as Thomas Ramos’ last-gasp penalty noticed France snatch a shocking 48-46 victory to retain their Six Nations title.
Ramos nailed a long-range penalty with the clock within the pink to settle a 13-try thriller which England appeared to have received when Tommy Freeman crossed with 4 minutes remaining.
An England win would have handed the championship to Eire, who had overtaken France on the summit following their win over Scotland. However Les Bleus had the ultimate say to clinch a 3rd title in 5 years.
It took Ramos’ kick to resolve a try-filled epic, with Louis Bielle-Biarrey scoring two tries in every half and Ollie Chessum bagging a double, together with a shocking intercept attempt.
England had recovered from two early sucker-punches by Bielle-Biarrey to dominate a gripping first half. They at one stage led by 10 factors however a late penalty attempt, coupled with the sin-binning of Ellie Genge, noticed it shaved to 27-24 on the interval and France made their man benefit rely after the restart with two additional tries.
The lead continued to vary palms, with Marcus Smith coming off the bench to mark his fiftieth England cap with a attempt. It was simply England’s finest efficiency of the championship, a far cry from the insipid show towards Italy, however it in the end resulted in a gut-wrenching defeat.
Steve Borthwick’s facet end fifth within the Six Nations desk however with causes for optimism heading into their summer season Checks towards South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.
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