England v France – RBS Six Nations – Rugby Union

By Patricia Connell
12/03/2007

England v France – RBS Six Nations – Rugby Union

Sunday 11^th March was going to be the day when France would secure its position as most probable winners of the 6 Nations tournament. It was going to be the day when the French team would once again confirm that they were the champions. What a disappointment! Not only did the team never managed to find its rhythm, even the supporters were pitiful in comparison to the England supporters. When France had the ball, never did we hear the support that the England players got when they got it. Why? It wasn’t as if there were no French supporters in the stadium. They were there: French flags, berets, ‘maillots’ and all. What was not there however, was the spirit and the unconditional support for a team that was playing perhaps one of the most difficult games of this tournament. When Brian Ashton, the England coach, decided to change10 of its players, it really achieved the results he was hoping for: an amazing performance against France. Although England started pretty badly missing two of the penalties they were given, they certainly made up for it in the second half of the game by scoring two tries, one by Mark Tindall and the other by Toby Flood.

As Sebastien Chabal pointed out, ‘England played really well, with a big heart’. Come on France. Let’s do better next time. Could we please also try to get some louder support for our team next time?