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England won the Fall Nations Cup final in the most dramatic circumstances, when Owen Farrell hit a ‘gold point’ penalty in sudden death overtime to secure a 22-19 victory over a young French team that had been seconds from a famous victory. .
Sudden death came as Luke Cowan-Dickie finished a driving maul with 29 seconds of regulation time remaining, Farrell avoided a humiliating loss to a dark side of Les Bleus by kicking the conversion to set up a grandstand finish.
All afternoon Farrell had kicked badly off the tee and squandered an early opportunity to snatch victory from opponents set up as 8/1 underdogs when he hit the right vertical.
When the second 10-minute period came and with France struggling to escape their time, England finally broke the deadlock when a penalty won by Maro Itoje was dispatched by Farrell.
After fighting their way through the fall, using their group of grunts to subdue Italy, Georgia, Ireland and Wales, Eddie Jones’ Six Nations champions hit a blue wall as France faced them at every turn.
Skillfully led by overhead midfielder Matthieu Jalibert, Les Bleus showed more intent on the attack during the first half hour they controlled, and when it came time to defend, they rolled up their sleeves with an attitude that Shaun Edwards loved.
Brice Dulin was primed by Jalibert to cross in the 16th minute, while Jalibert’s boot and Louis Carbonel did the rest, as they threatened to outshine their fierce rivals for the second time this year before running out of strength.
England barely existed as a striking force, barely fired a shot, and while Jones had spoken of learning the lessons from last fall’s World Cup final loss to South Africa, they seemed equally out of place here.
An agreement reached between France and their clubs meant that head coach Fabien Galthie was left without 25 top-tier internationals, resulting in the selection of a reserve team with just 68 caps.
Against them, in the biggest mismatch in experience in testing history, was England’s most experienced lineup of all time, their 813 matches with 13 survivors from the World Cup final.
Even French coach Raphael Ibáñez understood why the final had been labeled a “farce”, but it was clear from the start that the visitors were enjoying the opportunity to star in one of the biggest surprises in the long history of the rivals.
England benefited from referee Andrew Brace’s whistle early on when Farrell hit a penalty, but in the fifth minute they were opened by a brilliant run from Jalibert.
Taking advantage of the broken game that led to a chaotic lineout, Jalibert saw a half space and seized the opportunity by ignoring a tackle from Jamie George and avoiding Farrell before sending Dulin in for a skillful attempt.
Jalibert’s conversion found the mark before Elliot Daly responded with a penalty, but it was much more than a game played off the tee as the fast pace swept the game from one end to the other.
France chained phases together and were at their most dangerous as they used short passes to create spaces, with Jalibert expertly pulling the strings.
Two successful penalties from Bordeaux’s fly-half extended the lead to 13-6 and when it came time to defend, they showed remarkable stamina to withstand a sustained bombardment on their line.
Few teams have proven capable of stopping England’s forwards from hitting the shutout, but France tackled relentlessly until Ellis Genge knocked on the door.
Daly worked his way into a dangerous position and Jonny May nearly broke free as England started the second half with a flourish, ending a strong streak with a Farrell penalty.
Even limited to 2,000, the crowd expressed their displeasure at a long period of kicking but, as France tried to break free, Jalibert’s pass to Alivereti Raka landed on the wing’s feet.
Ford and Daly combined to create a half chance for Anthony Watson as the game played out in the middle of the opposition with increasing regularity.
As Farrell staggered off the posts, replacement midfielder Carbonel was on target until Farrell finally readjusted his sights.
But Carbonel surpassed his second after an explosive run from Raka established field position.
With 29 seconds left, Cowan-Dickie swept England over the line, setting the exciting conclusion. 061633 DECEMBER 20
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