England, led by bullocking No. 8 Billy Vunipola, confirmed their remarkable transformation from World Cup flops to Six Nations Grand Slam winners when they beat France 31-21 on Saturday.
The victory was Australian coach Eddie Jones’ fifth straight win since taking over from Stuart Lancaster.
It was England’s first Grand Slam since their World Cup-winning year of 2003, when Jones was in charge of losing finalists Australia.
Photo: Reuters
“I’m very proud of the boys. We were not at our best, but we battled throughout and deserve the victory,” Jones told the BBC. “It’s a great achievement by the team. Dylan Hartley has been fantastic and he has done a very good job. Billy Vunipola, Mike Brown and Owen Farrell have done very well assisting him, along with James Haskell and Chris Robshaw. That nucleus has been very strong.”
France coach Guy Noves hailed his “courageous” side, but was left ruing a malfunctioning lineout and too much lost possession at the breakdown.
“Obviously it doesn’t make me happy to have finished fifth,” Noves said. “I didn’t expect to be fifth. Next time we meet the English, I hope we’ll be at their level.”
It was not easy going at the Stade de France for England, who scored three tries through Danny Care, Dan Cole and Anthony Watson, with Owen Farrell contributing 16 points with the boot.
A rash of ruck infringements allowed France to stay in the game through scrumhalf Maxime Machenaud, who booted seven penalties in a flawless kicking display.
Machenaud got the scoreboard rolling after Maro Itoje was pinged at a ruck, but Farrell responded immediately when France skipper Guilhem Guirado was penalized for a dangerous tackle.
France delighted a packed stadium by running the ball with intent, Scott Spedding and Virimi Vakatawa both splitting the English defense only for final passes to go amiss.
Livewire scrumhalf Care, who dictated a fast pace, showed up some lax ruck defense by stepping straight through a gap left by lumbering prop Jefferson Poirot and crossing for a well-taken try.
France suffered a blow when Francois Trinh-Duc limped off after 13 minutes to be replaced by Jules Plisson at flyhalf.
Spedding broke through again, with France finally showing their attacking muster.
Machenaud booted his second penalty, but England again came firing back up the pitch, prop Cole bundling over the line for a try.
England, with Vunipola and flanker Haskell to the fore, denied waves of home attack, Machenaud kicking a third penalty after another ruck infringement.
Machenaud knocked over a fourth penalty to leave the score 17-12 at halftime, with Farrell missing his second effort.
The tit-for-tat continued in the second half as Farrell banged over his own penalty as Guirado strayed offside before Machenaud booted his sixth.
Then came Watson’s try after a brilliant break by Care’s replacement Ben Youngs, who put a grubber-kick into the corner rather than risk a pass, the Bath winger picking up and barging through Wesley Fofana.
From the restart, England again infringed, Machenaud making no mistake from the tee.
France made a raft of changes to the front five, temporarily giving them the upper hand at the scrum, although their lineout was creaking and gifted England vital possession.
Farrell calmed nerves with his third and fourth penalties to ensure England the Grand Slam, having contrived to botch four other occasions to nab the trophy since the Five Nations became six in 2000.
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