Rugby today

One of his vice-skippers, prop Ellis Genge, will lead the team instead. It's a bold decision from Borthwick but one he hopes will pay off handsomely as England ...

It is a bit of a mystery at the moment. I thought we would get a measure of where we are at, there is a big gap between us and the top teams in the world. We are way off where we want to be. “It was a very special game for us and we tried to make it count. “We played the way we wanted to play... "Certainly you have to give immense credit to France and they are clearly a world-class team. “That is one of our worst performances and we were punished numerous times. Thibaud Flament crossed twice, so did Charles Ollivon and the excellent Thomas Ramos claimed a try to boot. “It was great to score. It shows we’re on the right path. It’s our biggest performance in a while.” Thibaut Flament, Charles Ollivon and Damian Penaud all notched braces for France, who got a very early score from the sublime Thomas Ramos as they won by a staggering 43 points, 53-10.

Marcus Smith starts at fly half as England host France at Twickenham in Le Crunch.

Boos at the full time whistle of an England home fixture for the second time in a matter of months. Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou, Thomas Ramos and Gregory Alldritt were all outstanding for the visitors, to name just four from a complete dismantling of an inferior side. “France are brilliant, there’s a reason they are number two in the world. You’d say Borthwick might be inclined to go back to his appointed captain in Dublin, but almost anything is surely now on the table. “We were well beaten by 43 points; when you play like that against a team so well coached and with ability like that, that’s going to happen. They played well, we played poorly - we have to learn from it and be better. England were shambolic, as their opponents dominated every facet of the game and scored seemingly at will. [France](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/france-rugby) aren’t even the best team in this [Six Nations](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/six-nations). Any credit Borthwick had built up as an ex-England captain, with an impressive coaching CV early in his career and as the ideal, straightforward man to follow the drama of the unpopular Eddie Jones era has likely been extinguished. “I think that we are incredibly disappointed with the performance. The main bearing on the game was the contact area. Never before, in 152 years of playing international rugby, had an England team suffered a home defeat this heavy.

England player ratings vs France as Steve Borthwick's men looked to make it three wins in a row in the 2023 Six Nations.

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Steve Borthwick says he is "incredibly disappointed" with England's humiliating record defeat to France at Twickenham in the Six Nations, adding they are ...

"Now, what's clear is while we had plans in place today to mitigate against that power, we didn't execute enough and made errors. I said before the game it was a formidable challenge, and it turned out to be. We've got to learn from it and be better. And that hurts us, and I'm sure it hurts the supporters as well. My job is to make sure we learn and improve faster than any other team. Today just shows, in stark reality, what that's about.

Sir Clive Woodward and Jonny Wilkinson were left absolutely stunned after England were torn apart by a ruthless France in their heaviest ever defeat at ...

"It's a massive humility check," he added. That 1998 game [when England lost 76-0 to Australia], for me, it was a real cleansing opportunity to just realise the story of who I thought I was could no longer carry on, it was almost forced to change and in that change I found brand new possibility. "It's a sobering moment," he added. "I think Steve has still got a lot of learning to do, but he's a young coach and he just started his international career. But to think that we're going to go and play Ireland next week, it's been a sobering thought. "But it's not that big a gap.

LONDON (AP) — The only team with any bite in “Le Crunch” was France. On one of the darkest days in English rugby history, France put on a clinic by running ...

“It is a bit of a mystery at the moment.” Ollivon’s second try was somewhat farcical after England flyhalf Marcus Smith lost possession of the ball in his attempt to get back over his own tryline after retrieving a kick. From the moment Flament broke England’s flimsy defensive line in his own half to help set up a second-minute try by Thomas Ramos, the French looked a class apart.

England's Guinness Six Nations took a shocking turn for England as they were completely outplayed by France in Round 4...

To actually see this in a Six Nations game, I never thought I would ever see that scoreboard at Twickenham.” England were never going to win that game today, there were second by a long, long way. I thought we would struggle to win this game today, but I thought we would be close. The biggest walloping England have ever taken at Twickenham. France reminding us of the joy they can play this game with. The men in white failed to produce much of anything in attack, with handling errors in the wet and a complete failure to compete at the breakdown costing them dearly.

England endured their biggest ever home defeat as France scored seven tries in a 53-10 thrashing.

England will be hoping to put pressure on Ireland at the top of the Six Nations standings as they take on France in Le Crunch at Twickenham.

To be able to have Owen [Farrell] to come on and finish the game' But England undo their hard work conceding a penalty for handling the ball on the floor. But play is called back by the referee as England have the advantage and kick to the corner with the resulting penalty. England recover the ball and clear their lines. France have certainly got off on the front foot, with England making several mistakes. According to Opta, their 24-point lead is the largest any side has had at half time over England in the Six Nations. The home side have not quite mounted a fluid attack yet. I thought it was a well selected team [England], I thought it was the best selected team he could have put out. But just the physicality and the athleticism of the French team was amazing. It looks as though the French openside Ollivon may have scored with the TMO checking now! Fickou's excellent vision see's Alex Dombrant mismatched against Penaud on the wing, and while Dombrant gets the tap on the France 14, he can't quite bring him down. I think I sugar-coat it, probably one of the worst performances we’ve had.

Marcus Smith's introduction to the starting XV couldn't inspire England to a result against France, who secured their first Six Nations win at Twickenham ...

That applied the finishing touches to England's biggest home loss in history (or Five and Four Nations, for that matter), highlighting a dire need for changes ahead of this year's "We played the way we wanted to play. That try illustrated the gulf in impetus between the two teams, with England lacking the alertness and physicality of their guests. It shows we're on the right path." France flexed their ingenuity for Ollivon's brace in particular, the back-rower nonchalantly reaching over England's ruck to dot down following Ramos' all-too-simple break and chip deep into enemy territory. "We got exposed today," he told Stand-in fly-half Smith briefly narrowed the lead with a paltry penalty soon after, only for France to hit back before the break. We probably have to be better in the contact area which is on the forwards." The Red Rose showed signs of blooming in an improved second half but was left with too much to do after heading in at the break 27-3 down. [Bristol](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/bristol-rugby)'s [Ellis Genge](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/ellis-genge) said he 'wouldn't sugar coat' his analysis after standing in as captain for the absent Farrell, praising the "brilliant" Bleus while adding England "are way off where we want to be." Charles Ollivon, Thibaud Flament and Damian Penaud each scored two tries apiece as Les Bleus banked their first Six Nations win at Headquarters since 2005. [Steve Borthwick](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/steve-borthwick)'s [England](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/england-rugby-union-team) revolution stalled at Twickenham on Saturday after [France](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/france-rugby-union-team) flew to a record-breaking 53-10 [Six Nations](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/six-nations) win in hostile territory.