England's Rugby Rumble Rocks Fans!
Tommy Freeman (left) and Fin Smith delivered fine performances in a gut-wrenching defeat - Adam Davy/PA England finally showed there can be honour, even in defeat. At last they threw off the shackles and delivered a performance of guts, intensity and attacking intent that may just have saved Steve Borthwick’s job. The hard facts are that just one win – the opening-round triumph over Wales – represents England’s worst-ever Six Nations display and you have to go back 50 years to find the last time England lost four games in the championship.
And yet, despite France’s last-gasp victory through Thomas Ramos’s long-range penalty, Saturday night’s performance has brought Borthwick more time. Thomas Ramos kicks France to Six Nations glory 🏆🇫🇷 That has to go down as one of the great games in Six Nations history. pic.
twitter. com/i7R6G4Gu64 — ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) March 14, 2026 Remarkably, even in defeat England managed to outscore France seven tries to six – four of which were scored by Louis Bielle-Biarrey – and surprise their opponents with a display brimming with dashing intent. This was the kind of defiance that their supporters had been clamouring for during defeats by Scotland, Ireland and Italy.
The Rugby Football Union will hold a review into the campaign, and questions will centre on many things that went wrong, but also how England managed to turn things around in such a dramatic manner. Supporters will rightly wonder why it took the squad to reach such depths of despair before finally they took a stand. England’s next match, against world champions South Africa in Ellis Park in July, now looks like a watershed moment.
If England can maintain this momentum and show that the progress demonstrated in Paris is real and sustainable, the RFU may decide to back the regime. Central to the review process will be assessing what impact any changes would have, and whether they would improve the situation in the short and medium terms. There were outstanding displays from Ollie Chessum, who scored twice, including a length-of-the-field intercept try, Ellis Genge and Maro Itoje, while Fin Smith directed the backline with authority and aplomb.
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