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England lose again, Ireland win Six Nations

England went into the game knowing that only a bonus-point victory would prevent the Irish, with four wins from four after an earlier 28-8 triumph over Scotland, winning the championship.

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But Eddie Jones' team didn't play like a side needing to score four tries to force a championship decider in a Twickenham head-to-head next week.

There was a distinct lack of English penetration under a stifling French defence, the much-hyped George Ford-Owen Farrell axis was ineffectual and there were a myriad of mistakes in key areas.

A tight opening half was a nervy affair littered with infringements, be they by France at the scrum or England at the breakdown.

The French defence was solid, with giant centre Mathieu Bastareaud a real handful in the loose, and England's blunt-looking attack was unable to stretch the home side wide.

Owen Farrell opened the scoring with a 38-metre penalty after Rabah Slimani was pinged by South African referee Jaco Peyper for collapsing a scrum.

Peyper was, unfortunately, to have a busy afternoon with the whistle, with England three times penalised for holding on at the ruck in quick succession to set a bad precedent for the rest of the match.

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France also lost their first three line-outs as both sides struggled for any kind of ascendancy.

Slimani was having a rough time at the scrum and when he was again penalised for collapsing, Elliot Daly kicked over a monster 52-metre penalty.

Maxime Machenaud eventually got France on the scoreboard with a 25th minute penalty, but Farrell responded almost immediately.

Maro Itoje's high challenge on Benjamin Fall gifted Machenaud a second penalty, and the Racing 92 scrumhalf made no mistake with his third after Chris Robshaw wandered badly offside to sum up an extremely frustrating first 40 minutes for both sides.

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France received a massive boost early in the second period when Peyper awarded a penalty try after Anthony Watson was judged to have gone high on Fall – and denying the wing a try-scoring opportunity.

The French were suddenly on the front foot, Remy Grosso breaking down his left wing. The ball was quickly recycled, but Marco Tauleigne and Guilhem Guirado couldn't make the extra numbers count.

Machenaud booted his fourth penalty going into the final quarter, a raft of replacements boosting France's momentum.

England winger Jonny May crossed for a consolation try after a lovely lay-off by Daly, Farrell converting, in a glimpse of what England had gone into the game needing to produce over the full 80 minutes.

France had the last word in a frantic final five minutes, however, replacement Lionel Beauxis kicking a penalty to ensure Irish eyes were smiling.

Man of the match: It was a memorable and a much-needed scalp for the French and we felt the whole team deserves to share this award.

The scorers:

For France:

Try: Penalty Try

Pens: Machenaud 4, Beauxis

For England: 

Try: May

Con: Farrell

Pens: Farrell 2, Daly 

Teams:

France: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Remy Grosso, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhelm Guirado (captain), 1 Jefferson Poirot.

Replacements: 16 Adrien Pelisse, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Kelian Galletier, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Gael Fickou.

England: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell (captain), 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 James Haskell, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Mike Brown.

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

AFP & rugby365com

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