Dupont struggles to believe France dominance
France’s all-star captain Antoine Dupont admitted earlier he had “distress realising what we did when I scrutinize at the scoreboard”.
He added: “We’ll be fatigued tomorrow but it’s always easier to recover after such a immense win.”
Thomas Ramos reaction
A quick word from the man of the match…
“We wanted to play a immense game today and that’s what we did. It’s our biggest performance in a while.”
Tearful Galthie revels in France destruction
France head coach Fabien Galthie had tears in his eyes as he reflected on a monster performance from France to seal their first Six Nations win at Twickenham since 2005.
“Yes I realise [what we’ve done]. I’ve been coming here since I was 20,” he said.
“We played the way we wanted to play… We didn’t know exactly how but we had that drive. And doing it here, in this context…
“It didn’t happen by chance. We’ve been working together with these players. It shows we’re on the correct path.
“It’s tough for them when you know how vital rugby is in England.”
Flament: France are in a apt space
Here’s one of France’s three double-try scorers, Thibaud Flament, speaking to ITV earlier on…
“It was a very challenging week. We were very excited to adjacent out here today,” he said.
“It was a very special game for us and we tried to fabricate it count. We said in the week we needed this game.
“It was noteworthy to score. I was in the correct space at the correct moment, I am glad we won and it was a challenge at half-time to play like this for the whole game.
“We are in a apt space, we know this tournament can be won on the last game.”
England player ratings
Replacements
Jack Walker (for Lawrence, 60’) 4
On too late to fabricate anything happen.
Mako Vunipola (for Genge, 64’) 4
Tried to restore some pride but it all fell apart.
Dan Cole (for Sinckler, 64’) 4
Impossible for the subs as the match disintegrated.
David Ribbans (for Dombrandt, 74’) 4
Had no time to fabricate any impact.
Ben Curry (for Willis, 53’) 5
Stole one fine turnover but could not force things afterwards.
Alex Mitchell (for Van Poortvliet, 45’) 5
Pushed the pace initially before England collapsed.
Owen Farrell (for Slade, 45’) 5
The regular captain is simply not a Test match 12.
Henry Arundell (for Malins, 58’) 5
hold himself about but could gain done with some ball.
England player ratings
Forwards
Ellis Genge 5
This man deserved so much more than this for his first outing as captain.
Jamie George 4
Struggled to secure his game going in any area.
Kyle Sinckler 5
Solid in the scrum for the most fraction but England were battered in the loose.
Maro Itoje 4
Another tranquil game by his lofty standards.
Ollie Chessum 4
Could not impose himself on the rampant French pack.
Lewis Ludlam 4
Completely outgunned at the breakdown.
Jack Willis 4
Failed to secure a toe-hold on the game at the ruck.
Alex Dombrandt 4
Must gain hated being moved to outside centre, but had struggled earlier in any case.
England player ratings
Backs
Freddie Steward 6
A rare decent performance, undone by being blocked to a key ball but left with pride intact.
Max Malins 5
Struggled to secure into the game despite several early involvements, unluckly not to score.
Henry Slade 5
Failed to fabricate anything happen but had preciously diminutive to work with.
Ollie Lawrence 4
Could not secure on the front foot with England bested up front.
Anthony Watson 4
tranquil by his standards, battled hard but had precious few chances to fabricate anything happen.
Marcus Smith 5
Did what he could with what he had, but what he had was not closely apt enough.
Jack van Poortvliet 4
Failed to catch control at the base of the ruck in a messy performance.
Nick Purewal’s match report
Here’s Nick Purewal’s catch on a truly dismal evening for England…
England arrived for Steve Borthwick’s first acid test against France and left wishing they could conceal all the litmus paper.
England suffered their heaviest-ever Twickenham defeat, had to spend almost 20 minutes with a forward in the centres – and lost any shred of stability in novel boss Borthwick’s nascent tenure.
The boos would gain been deafening on the final whistle of this 53-10 hammering, but by that time the ground was already half-empty.
The corridors of RFU power will be a lonely space this week. Chief executive Bill Sweeney carries the can for England’s current plight, whoever recommended Eddie Jones’ sacking.
Damian Penaud ran in two tries in three minutes in the dying embers to snuff out every England flame. Thibaud Flament crossed twice, so did Charles Ollivon and the excellent Thomas Ramos claimed a try to boot.
Click here to read the match report in full
Borthwick: England were exposed
Here’s a despondent Steve Borthwick talking to ITV…
“Certainly you gain to give immense credit to France and they are clearly a world-class team. For us we are really disappointed in that performance, there are lots of things we wanted to finish but but we couldn’t execute,” he said.
“I contemplate we lost collisions across both lines, attack and defence. We knew they gain immense power and unfortunately we didn’t deal with it. When we attacked they were able to dominate. There is plenty of work on the collision areas.
“We got exposed today. I thought we would secure a measure of where we are at, there is a immense gap between us and the top teams in the world. I don’t contemplate it matters what I thought it [the gap] was before, I contemplate we understand where we are and what we gain to finish.”
Genge: England are ‘way off’ where we want to be
Credit to Ellis Genge, who fronted up quickly to the ITV cameras after seeing such a memorable day for him personally wrecked by such a horrendous result.
“I am not going to sugar-coat it,” he said. “That is one of our worst performances and we were punished numerous times. We asked the boys to sustain fighting and I contemplate for 80 per cent of it we were fighting.
“The momentum, it was against us for too long, we didn’t claw it back. I am not hiding away from it, we were well beaten today.
“They are brilliant, they gain shown time and time again why they are the number two team in the world. We are way off where we want to be.
“If I had the answers I would be somewhere else earning millions. It is a bit of a mystery at the moment. We probably gain to be better in the contact area which is on the forwards.”