England have succumbed to a 53-10 defeat at the hands of France in Saturday's Six Nations fixture, the hosts suffering their worst-ever defeat at Twickenham.
Having posted a morale-boosting win in Wales last time out, England would have been optimistic about toppling a France side that showed vulnerability against Scotland two weeks ago.
However, Steve Borthwick's side were ruthlessly torn apart by one of their fierce rivals, the tone being set when the first of seven tries from the visitors was posted in just the second minute.
Thomas Ramos and Thibaud Flament both went over in the first 26 minutes to put France 17-0 ahead before Marcus Smith finally got England on the board with a penalty six minutes before the break.
Nevertheless, it was a minor reprieve for England as a try from Charles Ollivon helped put France 27-3 ahead at half time, leaving Borthwick and his team with much to ponder.
Just @PenaudD things 💅#ENGvFRA | #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/drEdyXCIIg
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 11, 2023
To England's credit, Freddie Steward touched down to bring his side back to 27-10 shortly after the interval, yet the hosts were powerless to prevent France from heaping more misery on this group of players during the final half hour.
Further tries from Flament, Antoine Dupont and a double from Damien Penaud condemned England to what can only be described as an embarrassing defeat, leaving them in fourth place ahead of Wales who beat Italy by a 29-17 scoreline earlier in the day.
From France's perspective, they sit level of points with leaders Ireland, who square off against third-placed Scotland at Murrayfield in a potentially-pivotal clash on Sunday.
Darren Plant
