France 13 England 24:IF THE Cirque du Soleil had not put down its pegs in Bercy on the outskirts of Paris, we might have thought the France coach, Marc Lièvremont, had sent out the troupe at Stade de France as the main act replete with spangled pants, unicycles, balls tricks and sleight of hand.
In the end France didn't quite pull off the pièce de résistance as what began with a flourish fell off in the second half. England, with their pragmatic brand of high-tempo defence and muscular discipline, dominated the scrums and strangled France of their creative life. And how effective they were!
In these renaissance days the French disposition is that to be ugly about your rugby is not just undesirable but deserves a tumbril ride to a sharp end.
Lièvremont was asked after the match whether the defeat would temper the youthful joie de vivre he has decided to instil into his players.
"No, absolutely not," he said, glaring straight at the questioner with a look that said, "I may just get up and slap you."
Nor was there any conspicuous apology for the charmingly eccentric decision to start without a recognised place kicker. The Biarritz centre, Damien Traille, third choice for his club, pushed one kick wide and hit a post with another in the first half
Once again, bloody-minded England showed what a simple game this can be and Jonny Wilkinson, despite missing a few kicks, operated like a points metre throughout a match that began fortuitously for his side.
When Jamie Noon rush-tackled Cedric Heymans, belting typically out of his own 22, the ball squirted back toward the French line for the predatory right wing Paul Sackey to gather, show a little footwork and touch down for the first try on five minutes. Wilkinson added the conversion and a penalty for 10-0 and England had the platform to grind out a win that, one suspects, will draw little more than grudging respect.
The eight-nine-10 axis for England was made up of Nick Easter, Richard Wigglesworth and Johnny Wilkinson, 29, 24 and 28 years old respectively. That same crucial grouping for France contained the 22-year-old Louis Picamoles at number eight, the 21-year-old François Trinh-Duc at outhalf and the 19-year-old Morgan Parra at scrumhalf.
In front France had a mature pack but one that struggled in the scrums from the outset. The referee, Steve Walsh of New Zealand, was soon cheerily blowing them up for collapsing and that was to be a problem Lièvremont's shrug could not explain away. And because it was so obvious, he did not try.
But behind with Vincent Clerc, Aurélien Rougerie and Heymans - the player the French call the man in "those famous orange supersonic crampons" - the French runners initially probed with some mastery and intent, but too often the swarming English defence was harrying and bustling them, including Heymans and his boots, into touch or to ground.
France were flashing to the breakdown and just as effective as England at clearing out bodies. But from a first half in which England were handing over soft penalties to a second where they arrived with the word "discipline" ringing in their ears from coach Brian Ashton's half-time analysis, the visiting side grew in stature.
Hooker Mark Regan was a constant irritation to the French. His belligerence in the scrum and delaying tactics at lineouts to deny the home side the high tempo they desired irked even Walsh.
Then when the French captain, Lionel Nallet, scored a pushover try on the right flank as a queue of speedsters in open space frantically waved for quick ball, Traille kicked comfortably for the conversion and 0-10 became 7-10 as Stade de France exploded to life.
But it was the triumph of pragmatism over promise, what England could do as against what France would have liked to do.
It was Wilkinson picking off three points here and there with penalties and a drop goal, slicing France to a painful end.
Even as David Skrela and Dimitri Yachvili came on for the "kids" in the midfield England had their measure, Skrela fumbling under the posts in the dying minutes for England to pick and drive, pick and drive, pick and drive. It was ironic that it was the scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth who sniped the late try, striking a blow for England youth and canny opportunism.
Indeed. But the mindset hasn't changed. Stade de France saw two sides struggling to meet an end, one made up of artisans, the other of artists. This time the hammers and chisels won. The important and long-term issue is what team is moving in the best direction.
Scoring sequence: 5 mins: P Sackey try, J Wilkinson con 0-7; 13: Wilkinson pen 0-10; 27: L Nallet try, D Traille con 7-10; 30: Wilkinson pen 7-13; 49: Traille pen 10-13; 63: Wilkinson drop goal. 10-16; 66: Wilkinson pen 10-19; 73: D Skrela pen 13-19; 80: R Wigglesworth try 13-24.
FRANCE: C Heymans; A Rougerie, D Marty, D Traille, V Clerc; F Trinh-Duc, M Parra; L Faure, D Szarzewski, N Mas; P Pape, L Nallet (capt); J Bonnaire, T Dusautoir, L Picamoles. Replacements: J Poux for Mas (56 mins), W Servat for Szarzewski, J Thion for Pape (both 59 mins), D Yachvili for Para, D Skrela for Trinh-Duc, A Floch for Rougerie (all 65 mins), F Ouedraogo for Picamoles (77 mins).
ENGLAND: I Balshaw; P Sackey, J Noon, T Flood, L Vainikolo; J Wilkinson, R Wigglesworth; A Sheridan, M Regan, P Vickery (capt); S Shaw, S Borthwick; J Haskell, M Lipman, N Easter. Replacements: T Croft for Haskell (21 mins), L Mears for Regan (49 mins), B Kay for Shaw (66 mins), M Tait for Noon (70 mins), M Stevens for Sheridan (71 mins).
Referee: S Walsh (New Zealand)
Att: 81,000
PHASES OF PLAY
5 Scrums Won 3
1 Scrums Lost 0
15 Lineouts Won 15
1 Lineouts Lost 3
11 Pens Conceded 10
2 Freekicks Conceded 1
0 Mauls Won 2
12 Ruck and Drive 35
60 Ruck and Pass 39
BALL WON
72 In Open Play 76
15 In Opponents' 22 24
30 At Set-pieces 29
1 Turnovers 2
TEAM STATISTICS
142 Passes Completed 82
2 Line Breaks 2
14 Possession Kicked 18
4 Errors from Kicks 1
3 Kicks to Touch 7
8% Kicks /Passes 18%
75 Tackles Made 107
3 Missed 7
96% Tackles Completed ... 93%
6 Offloads in Tackle 4
5% Offloads/Tackled 5%
11 Total Errors Made 10
10% Errors/Ball Won 9%
Details supplied by SAS Software
