Last Updated: 14/03/26 10:32pm
France’s Thomas Ramos celebrates with Antoine Dupont after his last-gasp penalty kick wins the match
England fell agonisingly short of a famous victory in Paris as Thomas Ramos’ last-gasp penalty saw France snatch a stunning 48-46 victory to retain their Six Nations title.
Ramos nailed a long-range penalty with the clock in the red to settle a 13-try thriller which England looked to have won when Tommy Freeman crossed with four minutes remaining.
An England win would have handed the championship to Ireland, who had overtaken France at the summit following their win over Scotland. But Les Bleus had the final say to clinch a third title in five years.
It took Ramos’ kick to decide a try-filled epic, with Louis Bielle-Biarrey scoring two tries in each half and Ollie Chessum bagging a double, including a stunning intercept try.
England had recovered from two early sucker-punches by Bielle-Biarrey to dominate a gripping first half. They at one stage led by 10 points but a late penalty try, coupled with the sin-binning of Ellie Genge, saw it shaved to 27-24 at the interval and France made their man advantage count after the restart with two further tries.
The lead continued to change hands, with Marcus Smith coming off the bench to mark his 50th England cap with a try. It was easily England’s best performance of the championship, a far cry from the insipid display against Italy, but it ultimately ended in a gut-wrenching defeat.
Steve Borthwick’s side finish fifth in the Six Nations table but with reasons for optimism heading into their summer Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.
More to follow…
