England end Six Nations with late defeat to France after controversial penalty
France 33-31 England
England signed off the 2024 Six Nations with a agonising last-ditch defeat to France after Thomas Ramos’ penalty in the dying seconds ensured the hosts finish second in the standings.
Steve Borthwick’s men were left to rue a contentious 79th-minute decision against Ben Earl for a no-arms tackle, a sour note to end a thriller in Lyon that could have gone either way right to the death.
“What a soft decision to decide a game like this, I’m sorry,” former England star Ugo Monye said on ITV. “I think we see that type of tackle many a time in the game.”
It was with arguably the try of the tournament that France had seized control of a dominant first half, Nolann Le Garrec adding the finishing touch after a clever steal at the line-out, the scrum half once again proving himself a more than able deputy to Antoine Dupont.
That was exactly what England deserved for a sluggish start as they struggled to keep pace with a tactically astute France and giving away a series of penalties.
Yet the match was briefly turned on its head after the break by three English tries in six minutes from Ollie Lawrence (2) and Marcus Smith.
Ramos fell off the tackle and Earl broke away to set up Smith, the man England had to thank for keeping them in contention going into the final weekend following his late drop goal against Ireland.
When France hit back through a pair of brilliant tries from Leo Barre and Gael Fickou, England only had themselves to blame, masters of their own downfall to allow Ramos’ kick up-field for Damian Penaud to create the latter.
George Ford and Smith combined beautifully to help Tommy Freeman to a late try by reply and England will kick themselves for not capitalising on a late spell in which they believed they had done enough.
But France won it with the very last kick, Ramos redeeming himself for one crucial missed penalty on a night when his kicking was otherwise perfect.
The Irish had already wrapped up the Championship earlier on Super Saturday, beating Scotland 17-13 in Dublin to make it back-to-back Six Nations triumphs.
By the time they kicked off, this was only ever a chance for England to finish second at best, but third is still an indicator that Borthwick’s divisive reign is indeed heading in the right direction.
