George Ford and Thomas Ramos both succeeded with early penalties for their teams, before scrum-half Nolann le Garrec scored the opening try. France led 16 -3 before centre Ollie Lawrence hit back with the first of his two tries.  The teams went into the dressing room at half-time with the score at 16 – 10.

Lawrence scored his second try early on in the second half and Marcus Smith stretched England’s lead. But France was far from finished and Leo Barre and Gael Fickou hit back with tries of their own. England wing Tommy Freeman scored a late try, converted by George Ford and it looked like England might get the win after all. 

However, Thomas Ramos succeeded with a penalty from the halfway line, to end the match in thrilling fashion.  France’s 33-31 win gave them second place in the competition. This was France’s first victory at home since they lost to South Africa in the quarter-finals of the World Cup last year.

For trailing France by fewer than seven points and scoring four tries, England bagged themselves two bonus points.  They finish the series in third place, with Scotland in fourth. 

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger