Maro Itoje saluted his team’s ambition and bravery after their stunning last-gasp 26-25 victory over France, the Six Nations frontrunners. The tournament is now wide open with three rounds to play and Steve Borthwick believes there is more to come from his squad.
The hosts were behind entering the final two minutes, only for Elliot Daly to deliver the game’s decisive try and Fin Smith to add the conversion that sealed only England’s second win in their last eight Tests. Itoje, the captain, hailed the victory as “a vindication” of his side’s hard work under Borthwick and praised their determination to keep attacking right to the end.
“Steve told the group to be ambitious and brave and to go out and score tries,” Itoje said. “Our backs were incredibly brave and ambitious and they took their opportunities where on other days we might have taken the conservative option.
“The ambition and mindset was to go after the win. We knew we needed a score and credit to the boys. They were brave and were wanting to go after France. I’m very happy we were able to do it.”
Borthwick also hailed the impact of his bench after a succession of games in which England had faded in the final quarter. “The difference today was the experience that came on,” the head coach said. “Jamie George and Elliot Daly increased our caps by about 170 and increased our average age by a few years. They brought all that intelligence and experience on to the grass.
“I am delighted for the players because everyone wants that tangible reward. I’m also happy for our supporters. Hopefully they’re filling up the pubs of south-west London, having a good time and jumping up and down on sofas all across England. I thought the atmosphere was exceptional and the Test was a great spectacle for everybody, whether you are a France supporter or an English supporter or a neutral. We scored four tries against a very good defence. France are such a good team.”
England’s next fixture is at home against Scotland on Saturday week and Borthwick says his team, calmly marshalled by Fin Smith at fly-half, still have plenty of improvement in them. “I was really pleased watching the composure at the end. It’s a team that’s growing. We’d all like everything to just suddenly be perfect. But that’s not the way teams build. The ceiling for this team is very high [but] unfortunately you take some pain along the way.”
France’s defence coach, Shaun Edwards, was left to bemoan the costly number of potential tries squandered by the visitors. “We got the oopsies, didn’t we?” Edwards said. “Every time we got near the tryline we seemed to just drop the ball. I’ve never seen that happen before. The French lads are normally magnificent handlers of a rugby ball.”
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The lock Emmanuel Meafou also felt a wasteful France side had shot themselves in the foot. “We need to get rid of the fancy stuff we force and just let the play happen by itself. There are three games left so we will come back stronger.”
