From the depths of despair, England finally made a stand

A fourth try by Bielle-Biarrey – from a kick by Dupont when England thought they had been playing a penalty advantage – swung the momentum again, but there was time for England to make one final assault in the most remarkable fashion, starting with a scrum penalty and then two more penalties coming from line-out mauls, with replacement prop Demba Bamba being sent to the sin-bin.

Luke Cowan-Dickie was held up over the line but then another unrelenting attack culminated in a try by Freeman under the posts. Smith’s conversion put England in front and looked to have handed the title to Ireland before Ramos’s kick sealed the most remarkable finish to the most remarkable Six Nations campaign.

Match details

Scoring sequence: 5-0 Bielle-Biarrey try, 7-0 Ramos con, 7-5 Roebuck try, 12-5 Bielle-Biarrey try, 14-5 Ramos con, 14-10 Murley try, 17-10 Ramos pen, 17-15 Chessum try, 17-17 F Smith con, 17-22 Coles try, 17-24 F Smith con, 17-27 F Smith pen, 24-27 penalty try, 29-27 Bielle-Biarrey try, 31-27 Ramos con, 36-27 Attissogbe try, 38-27 Ramos con, 38-32 Chessum try, 38-37 M Smith try, 38-39 M Smith con, 43-39 Bielle-Biarrey try, 45-39 Ramos con, 45-44 Freeman try, 45-46 M Smith con, 48-46 Ramos pen.

HT: 24-27

France: T Ramos; T Attissogbe, P Barassi, Y Moefana, L Bielle-Biarrey; M Jalibert, A Dupont; J Gros (R Neti 63), J Marchand (P Mauvaka 46), D Aldegheri (D Bamba 46); T Flament, E Meafou (J Brennan 67); F Cros, T Matiu (M Guillard 41), C Ollivon (H Auradou 78).
Sin-bin: Bamba 73.
Unused replacements: B Serin, E Gailleton.

England: E Daly (M Smith 55); T Roebuck, T Freeman, S Atkinson, C Murley; F Smith, B Spencer (J van Poortvliet 52); E Genge (B Rodd 76) , J George (L Cowan-Dickie 52), J Heyes (T Davison 76), M Itoje, A Coles (H Pollock, 55), O Chessum, G Pepper (S Underhill 63), B Earl (C Cunningham-South 76).
Sin-bin: Genge 40.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia).