England's wait for a grand slam goes on, but they look in better shape to win the title than France who forfeited an early 13-point lead before plundering victory with a try out of nothing with three minutes to go. The men in white dominated in terms of possession and territory only for a failing that was evident in the autumn to hurt them again.
England only scored once in the final quarter in their three autumn internationals, a try from Ben Morgan at the end of the victory over Argentina, and they fell away in the final 20 minutes here. They did muster a penalty through Alex Goode, given the kicking responsibility as Owen Farrell was suffering from cramp, but the momentum they had built up after conceding two tries in the opening 22 minutes when the bounce of the ball went against them was dissipated when they brought on replacements.
When players who had been influential in helping turn a 16-3 deficit into a 21-16 lead went off, such as Dylan Hartley, Danny Care, Billy Vunipola and Courtney Lawes, England switched from trying to build on their advantage into defending it and France, who had lacked control and organisation, sensed a vulnerability and exploited it.
The England head coach, Stuart Lancaster, had been bold in selection, giving three of his three-quarters their first start in the Six Nations. Jonny May only lasted seven minutes before leaving the field with a suspected broken nose, replaced on the wing by Mike Brown with Alex Goode coming off the bench to take over at full-back, but the two debutants, Luther Burrell and Jack Nowell, overcame nervous starts.
Burrell, who struggled to get in the game for the first 30 minutes – as did his more experienced opposite number, Mathieu Bastareaud, scored England's second try eight minutes into the second-half, supporting a burst from Vunipola after a decoy run by Billy Twelvetrees had fractured the defensive line, while Nowell appeared all over the pitch. If guilty of over-exuberance occasionally, forcing passes and conceding possession and mistiming challenges, France struggled both to pick up his runs and slow him down.
By the end, England had Burrell and Brown on the wings with Farrell, whose control in the second and third quarters of the match was impressive, hobbling. If France's first two tries, both scored by the wing Yoann Huget, had a significant element of luck, Jules Plisson's kick after less than 30 seconds ricocheting off Twelvetrees before bouncing unkindly for Brown, and then Brice Dulin's chip wrong-footing Goode, their third owed everything to skill.
There were less than four minutes to go when France, trailing by five points, launched an attack from their own half. The flanker Yannick Nyanga made ground on the right and when the ball was moved quickly the other way, Burrell came off his wing to take out the hooker Dimitri Szarzewski, who was acting as an outside-centre. The ball had found its way to Gaël Fickou, who had been on the field less than two minutes after replacing the ineffective Bastareaud, and as he made his way into England's 22 he had only Goode ahead of him with Maxime Médard available on his outside.
He left Goode in two minds before stepping off his left foot and the full-back could only wave at Fickou, who had the presence of mind to run under the posts before touching down and making the conversion, and with it the victory, a formality for another replacement, Maxime Machenaud, in what became a tale of two benches.
Lancaster afterwards praised the contribution of some of his replacements, Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola and Ben Morgan, but the cohesion and solidity they had demonstrated in the 40 minutes either side of half-time were lost when the changes were made. Youngs had Hartley's restless energy in the loose, but not his throwing accuracy in the lineout and a set piece England had dominated turned France's way.
England struggled in the scrum throughout. The first one was not set until the 26th minute but their failing up front cost them position as well as three points, both Joe Marler and Dan Cole penalised. The playing surface held firm, and it was a surprisingly open encounter, made exciting by the numerous unforced errors from both sides who, although in camp for two weeks, showed that training is no substitute for playing.
England looked to move the ball quickly from the breakdown, and with Farrell varying play adroitly, Twelvetrees was heavily involved and the ball found its way to both wings. Their early attacks tended to end through a misplaced pass, a handling error or a turnover at the breakdown, but their opening try on 36 minutes typified their approach.
Care tapped a penalty on France's 22 and, after he was hauled down close to the line, the ball was shipped smartly left where Vunipola gave Brown the room to dodge Huget's tackle and ride the challenges of Pascal Papé and Jean-Marc Doussain to pull England back to 16-11. They should have added another three points before the break but, after being awarded a kickable penalty, they took play through several phases and the referee Nigel Owens, whose high tolerance threshold at the breakdown helped the game flow, called advantage over.
England had recovered from a poor start. Nowell's first touch in Test rugby was a knock-on that France used to start an attack that would have fizzled out but for the ricochet off Twelvetrees and the home side's second try started when England lost possession, but by the time Care dropped a smart goal, there looked to be only one winner. As the changes were made, the game changed. France had six forwards on the bench and brought five on early: most of them could only be an improvement, but if England are to win the title, they need to have more in reserve.
