Eng secure first Grand slam in 13 years
The victory was Australian coach Eddie Jones' fifth straight win since taking over from Stuart Lancaster, the English having seen off Scotland (15-9), Italy (40-9), Ireland (21-10) and Wales (25-21).
It was England's first Grand Slam since their World Cup-winning year of 2003, when Jones was in charge of losing finalists Australia.
But 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 keep 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 penalised for a dangerous tackle.
France delighted a packed stadium by running the ball with intent, Scott Spedding and Virimi Vakatawa, born in South Africa and Fiji respectively, both splitting the English defence only for final passes to go amiss.
Livewire scrumhalf Care, who dictated a fast pace, showed up some lax ruck defence by stepping straight through a gap left by lumbering prop Jefferson Poirot and crossing for a well-taken try, converted by Farrell.
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 after generally failing to fire in tight wins over Italy (23-21) and Ireland (10-9) and defeats by Wales (10-19) and Scotland (18-29).
Machenaud booted his second penalty, but England again came firing back up the pitch, prop Cole bundling over the line for a try Farrell again converted.
England, with Billy Vunipola and flank James Haskell to the fore, denied wave after wave of home attack, Machenaud keeping France in the game with a third penalty after another ruck infringement.
It was then France's turn to defend and they did so with aplomb as Care marshalled his team from left to right, before two knock-ons undid English efforts.
Machenaud knocked over a fourth penalty to leave the score 17-12 at half-time with Farrell missing his second effort.
France opened the second period with an early charge by Vakatawa, the wing hauled down by opposite number Jack Nowell with the line abegging, Machenaud kicking a fifth penalty to bring the home side within two points.
The tit-for-tat continued 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 wing 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 line-out 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.
Man of the match: Owen Farrell's boot kept the scoreboard ticking over, while scrumhalf Danny Care was an attacking threat with his pace and guile. Wing Jack Nowell was another player who constantly looked for work and got over the advantage line on a number of occasions. For France, fullback Scott Spedding and wing Virimi Vakatawa were both at their explosive best and gave the English defence a number of problems. However, our award goes to England No.8 Billy Vunipola. He carried the ball more than any other player in his team and was outstanding in building momentum for his team they went forward
Moment of the match: Danny Care's superb try early in the first half gave England a good lead and a launch pad to go all the way for victory.
Villian of the match: There were no villains in this match.
The scorers:
For France:
Pens: Machenaud 7
For England:
Tries: Care, Cole, Watson
Cons: Farrell 2
Pen: Farrell 4
Yellow card: Xavier Chiocci (France, 77 – repeated infringements, collapsing maul)
Teams:
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (captain), 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Wenceslas Lauret, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Maxime Médard.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Manu Tuilagi. Elliot Daly.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
