France edges England to seal slam
Source: Agencies |
March 22, 2010, Monday
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FRANCE won its first grand slam since 2004 with a hard-fought 12-10 win over England in Saturday's final round of the Six Nations.
France was assured of the title before kicking off at Stade de France near Paris and completed a campaign it dominated from start to finish by withstanding a hugely-improved England performance.
England led when fullback Ben Foden touched down at the end of an uncharacteristically sparkling move by the visiting backs but Francois Trinh-Duc landed a drop-goal and Morgan Parra kicked three penalties to end a run of three straight defeats against the English.
The performance in front of a celebratory home crowd was France's least impressive of the entire tournament, with victory earned through domination of the set pieces and a defense that just contained an ambitious and much-changed England back line.
Substitute Jonny Wilkinson made things uncomfortable for France with 12 minutes to go with a long-distance penalty from out on the right touchline but the French won despite failing to score in a tight second half.
"We did not control many things tonight, maybe because we were afraid to win, and we needed a lot of courage," France coach Marc Lievremont told France 2 television after the match.
France finished with a maximum 10 points and a far superior points difference to every other side.
England finished third in the standings with five points, one more than Wales, but salvaged some pride after becoming the first team this year to prevent France from scoring a try.
Ireland needed to beat Scotland by a healthy margin at Croke Park to have any chance of overhauling France at the top of the standings, but lost 20-23 after failing to capitalize on large amounts of possession and territory.
Ireland fought back from 10-17 down to twice level the scores but Dan Parks kicked his fifth penalty with two minutes left.
"We got a bit of luck at the end of the game but Dan landed a great kick," Scotland coach Andy Robinson said. "The guys are hurting, they are tired but they deserve the plaudits for this win."
Improving Scotland, which lost to Wales on the last move of the match and was unlucky to draw 15-15 with England last week, avoids the ignominy of the so-called wooden spoon for finishing last.
That position went to Italy for the fifth time in six years after it lost 10-33 in Wales.
The Welsh finished fourth for a second straight year after winning for only the second time.
France was assured of the title before kicking off at Stade de France near Paris and completed a campaign it dominated from start to finish by withstanding a hugely-improved England performance.
England led when fullback Ben Foden touched down at the end of an uncharacteristically sparkling move by the visiting backs but Francois Trinh-Duc landed a drop-goal and Morgan Parra kicked three penalties to end a run of three straight defeats against the English.
The performance in front of a celebratory home crowd was France's least impressive of the entire tournament, with victory earned through domination of the set pieces and a defense that just contained an ambitious and much-changed England back line.
Substitute Jonny Wilkinson made things uncomfortable for France with 12 minutes to go with a long-distance penalty from out on the right touchline but the French won despite failing to score in a tight second half.
"We did not control many things tonight, maybe because we were afraid to win, and we needed a lot of courage," France coach Marc Lievremont told France 2 television after the match.
France finished with a maximum 10 points and a far superior points difference to every other side.
England finished third in the standings with five points, one more than Wales, but salvaged some pride after becoming the first team this year to prevent France from scoring a try.
Ireland needed to beat Scotland by a healthy margin at Croke Park to have any chance of overhauling France at the top of the standings, but lost 20-23 after failing to capitalize on large amounts of possession and territory.
Ireland fought back from 10-17 down to twice level the scores but Dan Parks kicked his fifth penalty with two minutes left.
"We got a bit of luck at the end of the game but Dan landed a great kick," Scotland coach Andy Robinson said. "The guys are hurting, they are tired but they deserve the plaudits for this win."
Improving Scotland, which lost to Wales on the last move of the match and was unlucky to draw 15-15 with England last week, avoids the ignominy of the so-called wooden spoon for finishing last.
That position went to Italy for the fifth time in six years after it lost 10-33 in Wales.
The Welsh finished fourth for a second straight year after winning for only the second time.
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