SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
World Champions England sparkle as the clouds clear
By Mick Cleary
12/03/2007
ENGLAND 26-18 FRANCE
It was a day of improbable weather and even more improbable deeds at Twickenham as Brian Ashton's England left their supporters basking in the glow of an unexpected 26-18 victory over one of the World Cup favourites.
That's my boy: Mike Catt (r) congratulates Englands debutant fly-half Shane Geraghty as World Champions beat France
England did not just beat France for the first time since their semi-final triumph in Australia four years ago, they did it in some style. You had to pinch yourself to recall that England had been bashed up in Dublin a fortnight ago, had made 11 changes and had invested Mike Catt, 35, with the captaincy, the fourth oldest man ever to hold the honour. And yet, on the Sabbath day, it all came together wondrously.
It comes to something when it is England scoring a couple of spanking tries while France, the supposed land of the liberated rugby souls, were having to make do with six penalty goals. French-fear has replaced French flair.
A quartet of new England stars was unveiled to an exultant, disbelieving public.
Four early twenty-somethings, fly-halves Toby Flood, 21, and Shane Geraghty, 20, flanker Tom Rees, 22, and wing David Strettle, 23, gave due notice that they will be part of this England set-up for quite some time to come. At long last the forward planning has arrived.
"That was awesome, absolutely awesome," said Catt, sporting a cut under his eye. "We played the way that we trained and it takes guts to do that. What a future there is with these young guys."
It was only this week that the head coach, Brian Ashton, was pointing out that England had tumbled into the second division of world rugby. And what now?
"We'll only get back up to where we want to be if we do this sort of thing consistently," Ashton said.
"We saw glimpses of what we can do today. Things had been difficult and it does put an element of doubt in your mind. I'm delighted that the players accepted the challenge. They not only had to bounce back, they had to bounce back in a particular way. They had to challenge France all over the field and they tried to do that for the full 80 minutes. It was good to see young players with courage."
Ashton now has a tricky selection poser to consider. Flood, who scored 16 points including a try on his first England start, was forced to give way to Geraghty just before the hour after suffering a dead leg.
Geraghty, on his debut, was even more inspirational, lancing through the ranks of dozy French defence seven minutes from time to trigger a try for Mike Tindall. Both men would not have been in the frame if it had not been for a hamstring injury to Jonny Wilkinson.
Rees, meanwhile, gave a man-of-the-match performance on the openside flank on what was his first start as well. Strettle was a livewire throughout.
"We wanted to keep the ball moving and we managed to do that," said Strettle, who came off after a bang to the head.
The upshot is that any one of three teams, Ireland (+38pts), France (+42) or England (+13) can win the title next Saturday. By the time England kick-off against Wales at the Millennium Stadium, they will know exactly what they have to do.
"I've not the faintest idea what the permutations are and I'm not going to start talking about those sort of things now," said Ashton, who made special mention of the England forward pack. "I'll just give it 24 hours for the dust to settle to see what we do with selection. The pack were twice as quick and worked twice as hard as they had done in Dublin."
France had no complaints. "We were fragile and lacked ambition," France coach Bernard Laporte said. "England totally deserved their victory. Maybe it was the pressure of the result because the players were thinking about the Grand Slam.
"We played well defensively but didn't play well offensively. England played well, they played a closed game at the beginning of the match probably because they wanted to find new confidence."
This splendid game capped a weekend of Six Nations controversy. Referee Chris White issued an apology over a time-keeping misunderstanding at the end of Italy's 23-20 victory over Wales.
Ireland coach, Eddie O'Sullivan, was sticking by his claim that fly-half Ronan O'Gara had been throttled in the closing moments of his side's 19-18 win over Scotland in Edinburgh.
THE STANDINGS
..........................P....W....D....L....F......A....Pts......P/D
France..................4.....3....0....1....109...67.....6......+42
Ireland..................4.....3....0....1....98....60.....6......+38
England.................4.....3....0....1....101...88.....6......+13
Italy.....................4.....2....0....2....70.....96.....4......-26
Scotland................4.....1....0....3....76.....107....2......-31
Wales...................4.....0....0....4....59.....95.....0......-36
Coming next ...
England, France and Ireland will go into Saturday's final round of games with a chance to win the RBS Six Nations Championship.
France remain favourites, enjoying a points difference of 42, just four more than Ireland in second place and 29 more than third-placed England. Ireland kick off 'Super Saturday' at lunchtime in Rome and can set a target for the others, though after Italy's wins over Scotland and Wales they will not be taking anything for granted.
Next comes France against Scotland in Paris. Finally England will appear at the Millennium Stadium in the evening when Wales will be anxious to avoid a whitewash just two years after winning the Grand Slam. If the teams finish level, points difference will decide the title.
England topple France
England 26
France 18
England kept alive their Six Nations title hopes after producing a performance packed with courage, character and commitment at Twickenham
--------------------------------
Injured Jonny Wilkinson's replacement Toby Flood amassed 16 points, including a try, before going off injured...
-----------------------------
... and leaving the stage to his replacement Shane Geraghty
----------------------------
Geraghty slotted a penalty and conversion, but his mesmeric midfield break decided the contest as he created England's winning try for centre Mike Tindall
---------------------------
The victory - England's first against France since their 2003 World Cup semi-final triumph in Sydney - means they can still secure Six Nations silverware through beating Wales next Saturday
-----------------------
Points difference looks likely to decide the trophy's destiny - and England are trailing France and Ireland - but in terms of confidence, the win will have worked wonders
dailymail.co.uk
---------------------
England: Josh Lewsey (London Wasps); David Strettle (NEC Harlequins), Mike Tindall (Bath Rugby), Mike Catt (captain - London Irish), Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks); Toby Flood (Newcastle Falcons), Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers); Tim Payne (London Wasps), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Julian White (Leicester Tigers), Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers), Tom Palmer (London Wasps), Joe Worsley (London Wasps), Tom Rees (London Wasps), Nick Easter (NEC Harlequins).
Replacements: Shane Geraghty (London Irish) for Flood 58, Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers) for Palmer 73, Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks) for Worsley 73, Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons) for Strettle 75, Shaun Perry (Bristol Rugby) for Catt 78.
France: Clement Pointrenaud; Vincent Clerc, David Marty, Yannick Jauzion, Christophe Dominici; David Skrela, Dimitri Yachvili; Olivier Milloud, Raphael Ibanez (captain), Pieter de Villiers, Lionel Nallet, Jerome Thion, Serge Betsen, Julien Bonnaire, Sebastien Chabal.
Replacements: Lionel Beauxis for Skrela HT, Imanol Harinordoquy for Chabal 49, Sebastien Bruno for Ibanez 67, Cedric Heymans for Pointrenaud 74, Pierre Mignoni for Yachvili 75
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, FROGGIE. ZUT ALORS. THE ROSBIFS BEAT YOU AGAIN.
World Champions England sparkle as the clouds clear
By Mick Cleary
12/03/2007
ENGLAND 26-18 FRANCE
It was a day of improbable weather and even more improbable deeds at Twickenham as Brian Ashton's England left their supporters basking in the glow of an unexpected 26-18 victory over one of the World Cup favourites.
That's my boy: Mike Catt (r) congratulates Englands debutant fly-half Shane Geraghty as World Champions beat France
England did not just beat France for the first time since their semi-final triumph in Australia four years ago, they did it in some style. You had to pinch yourself to recall that England had been bashed up in Dublin a fortnight ago, had made 11 changes and had invested Mike Catt, 35, with the captaincy, the fourth oldest man ever to hold the honour. And yet, on the Sabbath day, it all came together wondrously.
It comes to something when it is England scoring a couple of spanking tries while France, the supposed land of the liberated rugby souls, were having to make do with six penalty goals. French-fear has replaced French flair.
A quartet of new England stars was unveiled to an exultant, disbelieving public.
Four early twenty-somethings, fly-halves Toby Flood, 21, and Shane Geraghty, 20, flanker Tom Rees, 22, and wing David Strettle, 23, gave due notice that they will be part of this England set-up for quite some time to come. At long last the forward planning has arrived.
"That was awesome, absolutely awesome," said Catt, sporting a cut under his eye. "We played the way that we trained and it takes guts to do that. What a future there is with these young guys."
It was only this week that the head coach, Brian Ashton, was pointing out that England had tumbled into the second division of world rugby. And what now?
"We'll only get back up to where we want to be if we do this sort of thing consistently," Ashton said.
"We saw glimpses of what we can do today. Things had been difficult and it does put an element of doubt in your mind. I'm delighted that the players accepted the challenge. They not only had to bounce back, they had to bounce back in a particular way. They had to challenge France all over the field and they tried to do that for the full 80 minutes. It was good to see young players with courage."
Ashton now has a tricky selection poser to consider. Flood, who scored 16 points including a try on his first England start, was forced to give way to Geraghty just before the hour after suffering a dead leg.
Geraghty, on his debut, was even more inspirational, lancing through the ranks of dozy French defence seven minutes from time to trigger a try for Mike Tindall. Both men would not have been in the frame if it had not been for a hamstring injury to Jonny Wilkinson.
Rees, meanwhile, gave a man-of-the-match performance on the openside flank on what was his first start as well. Strettle was a livewire throughout.
"We wanted to keep the ball moving and we managed to do that," said Strettle, who came off after a bang to the head.
The upshot is that any one of three teams, Ireland (+38pts), France (+42) or England (+13) can win the title next Saturday. By the time England kick-off against Wales at the Millennium Stadium, they will know exactly what they have to do.
"I've not the faintest idea what the permutations are and I'm not going to start talking about those sort of things now," said Ashton, who made special mention of the England forward pack. "I'll just give it 24 hours for the dust to settle to see what we do with selection. The pack were twice as quick and worked twice as hard as they had done in Dublin."
France had no complaints. "We were fragile and lacked ambition," France coach Bernard Laporte said. "England totally deserved their victory. Maybe it was the pressure of the result because the players were thinking about the Grand Slam.
"We played well defensively but didn't play well offensively. England played well, they played a closed game at the beginning of the match probably because they wanted to find new confidence."
This splendid game capped a weekend of Six Nations controversy. Referee Chris White issued an apology over a time-keeping misunderstanding at the end of Italy's 23-20 victory over Wales.
Ireland coach, Eddie O'Sullivan, was sticking by his claim that fly-half Ronan O'Gara had been throttled in the closing moments of his side's 19-18 win over Scotland in Edinburgh.
THE STANDINGS
..........................P....W....D....L....F......A....Pts......P/D
France..................4.....3....0....1....109...67.....6......+42
Ireland..................4.....3....0....1....98....60.....6......+38
England.................4.....3....0....1....101...88.....6......+13
Italy.....................4.....2....0....2....70.....96.....4......-26
Scotland................4.....1....0....3....76.....107....2......-31
Wales...................4.....0....0....4....59.....95.....0......-36
Coming next ...
England, France and Ireland will go into Saturday's final round of games with a chance to win the RBS Six Nations Championship.
France remain favourites, enjoying a points difference of 42, just four more than Ireland in second place and 29 more than third-placed England. Ireland kick off 'Super Saturday' at lunchtime in Rome and can set a target for the others, though after Italy's wins over Scotland and Wales they will not be taking anything for granted.
Next comes France against Scotland in Paris. Finally England will appear at the Millennium Stadium in the evening when Wales will be anxious to avoid a whitewash just two years after winning the Grand Slam. If the teams finish level, points difference will decide the title.
England topple France
England 26
France 18
England kept alive their Six Nations title hopes after producing a performance packed with courage, character and commitment at Twickenham
--------------------------------
Injured Jonny Wilkinson's replacement Toby Flood amassed 16 points, including a try, before going off injured...
-----------------------------
... and leaving the stage to his replacement Shane Geraghty
----------------------------
Geraghty slotted a penalty and conversion, but his mesmeric midfield break decided the contest as he created England's winning try for centre Mike Tindall
---------------------------
The victory - England's first against France since their 2003 World Cup semi-final triumph in Sydney - means they can still secure Six Nations silverware through beating Wales next Saturday
-----------------------
Points difference looks likely to decide the trophy's destiny - and England are trailing France and Ireland - but in terms of confidence, the win will have worked wonders
dailymail.co.uk
---------------------
England: Josh Lewsey (London Wasps); David Strettle (NEC Harlequins), Mike Tindall (Bath Rugby), Mike Catt (captain - London Irish), Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks); Toby Flood (Newcastle Falcons), Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers); Tim Payne (London Wasps), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Julian White (Leicester Tigers), Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers), Tom Palmer (London Wasps), Joe Worsley (London Wasps), Tom Rees (London Wasps), Nick Easter (NEC Harlequins).
Replacements: Shane Geraghty (London Irish) for Flood 58, Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers) for Palmer 73, Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks) for Worsley 73, Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons) for Strettle 75, Shaun Perry (Bristol Rugby) for Catt 78.
France: Clement Pointrenaud; Vincent Clerc, David Marty, Yannick Jauzion, Christophe Dominici; David Skrela, Dimitri Yachvili; Olivier Milloud, Raphael Ibanez (captain), Pieter de Villiers, Lionel Nallet, Jerome Thion, Serge Betsen, Julien Bonnaire, Sebastien Chabal.
Replacements: Lionel Beauxis for Skrela HT, Imanol Harinordoquy for Chabal 49, Sebastien Bruno for Ibanez 67, Cedric Heymans for Pointrenaud 74, Pierre Mignoni for Yachvili 75
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, FROGGIE. ZUT ALORS. THE ROSBIFS BEAT YOU AGAIN.
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