England down France to keep Slam dream alive
Wilkinson becomes all-time leading scorer
England defeated reigning Six Nations champions France 17-9 at Twickenham yesterday to keep alive their dreams of a first Grand Slam since 2003.
A second half try from full-back Ben Foden proved decisive in a bruising encounter between the tournament’s only unbeaten rivals, with Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkinson adding the rest of England’s points from the boot.
Wilkinson’s second-half penalty saw him surpass New Zealand’s Dan Carter as international rugby’s record pointscorer with 1,190 points.
France, who had beaten Scotland and Ireland in their opening two games, scored three penalties through scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili as England’s defence held firm.
England manager Martin Johnson said that he was pleased with the victory.
“It was a good performance in that we didn’t play well in the first-half but we were able to change our game in the second period and we could have had three tries,” said Johnson, who captained England to their last Grand Slam.
“It wasn’t as spectacular as our win over Italy a fortnight ago but I am very happy with the win.”
England captain Mike Tindall concurred with his manager, who captained him to the 2003 Grand Slam and subsequent World Cup triumph later that year.
“I think we could have played better in the first half but we made too many mistakes.
“Sometimes you have to win ugly and they can be all the sweeter.”
Man of the match Tom Palmer said that the hosts’ defence had made a huge difference.
“It was really tough (the match) and the French threw everything at us,” said the 31-year-old, who plays for Top 14 side Stade Francais.
“But we raised our game in the second half and cut out some of our mistakes.”
In the other match played yesterday, Italy dominated large swathes of the game but couldn’t turn possession and territory into points as Wales sneaked away with a 24-16 win at the Stadio Flaminio.
The sides shared two tries apiece and also had one each disallowed in a thrilling game in the Roman sunshine. Wales proved more clinical than their hosts, though, with James Hook’s late drop goal ensuring Italy’s second half fightback stalled just when it appeared to be gathering pace.
Playing today
4 p.m. Scotland vs Ireland.
Standings
England 6; France, Wales 4; Ireland 2; Scotland, Italy 0.