France v England: Six Nations 2026 rugby union – live

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TRY! France 14 - 10 England (Caden Murley)

18 mins. France are back on the ball in the England half, but they end up moving backwards after a poor pass from auxiliary scrum half Bielle-Biarrey. A penalty is awarded to England for crossing which they use to move up the field.

Spencer angles a kick to Attissogbe’s corner and the young winger makes a mess of gathering it, spills it over his own line under pressure from Smith, and Murley is first to it to dab it down.

Conversion missed.

15 mins. A team have entered the 22 and not scored a try! This is not a drill! And it was England. The trouble was gathering for the French defence before there was some crossing in midfield to award a relieving penalty to France.

13 mins. This game is silly so far. I have nothing else to offer in terms of analysis.

TRY! France 14 - 5 England (Louis Bielle-Biarrey)

12 mins. Another 22 entry, another try. This time it was Jalibert angling a kick to the Bielle-Biarrey corner which was perfectly judged for he winger to gather and run another one in.

Ramos adds two.

Bielle-Biarrey of France runs in to score his second try. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

TRY! France 7 - 5 England (Tom Roebuck)

9 mins. England work eight impactful phases into the the 22 and out to the right wing via slick hands from F Smith and Daly for Roebuck to dive in the corner. A classy try that, and the best of the tournament from England probably.

Smith misses the extras.

Roebuck scores England's first try. Photograph: Dan Mullan/RFU/The RFU Collection/Getty Images

“Are they taking the mick with these kits?” asks Joshua Keeling. “i mean, seriously, how has that been allowed?”

For reasons of style, Joshua, I can only assume.

TRY! France 7 - 0 England (Louis Bielle-Biarrey)

6 mins. Another kick up the left which Murley looks to have covered until the rapid winger sweeps in, takes advantage of a kind bounce and streaks over.

Ramos converts.

4 mins. The scrum is solid from the French pack and Dupont can boot clear eventually. The ball is soon back in their hands and Ramos looks to drive a kick into open pasture up the left touchline for Bielle-Biarrey to chase. It screws off his boot and into touch, which is a relief for England because had it landed in play then no-one would’ve caught the meep-meeping winger at full gas.

2 mins. England are on the ball and moving quickly and with strength. Daly is up from fullback into the 13 channel to angle a cute grubber into coffin corner that puts Attissogbe in all sorts of bother. It it wasn’t for an England chaser slapping the ball forward that was a try.

Instead, France must deal with a defensive 5m scrum

Kick Off!

We’re underway

England's Cadan Murley, center, is tackled. Photograph: Michel Euler/AP

Officials tonight.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli.
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace and Hollie Davidson.
Television Match Official: Brett Cronan

The disco lights are on, the fires a lit, the horse muck has been cleared and the teams are on their way out. Soon a match will break out.

An email from Harry Lang

“In this underdog epic of a 6 Nations? Andaccording to the Zack Crawley law of last ditch English salvation we’ll probably smash the French and all recent failures will be forgiven ‘til after a humiliating World Cup.. Allez les sous chiens (sorry, French A Level was a while back).”

Ok, so there are two people dressed as hybrid Power Rangers/Boba Fett on horseback to bring the match ball on. The horses then each pull a wheelie* before heading off. This is something to do with the 120 year anniversary, once again.

I hope the players are not expected to shake hands with the horses as part of the pre-match formalities.

*I’m sure it’s not called a wheelie, but I know nothing of horses, having only ever been on donkeys in my life. None of which pulled whatever they call a wheelie in equine circles.

Speaking of the 120 year anniversary of Le Crunch, there is a special edition France shirt (which is gorgeous by the way, and already sold out) but it’s a very pale blue and will clash a bit with England white.

Pre-match reading to get you in the mood

The final game of the tournament is upon us, share your thoughts on this and anything else from the past few weeks if you like on this very email. I look forward to reading them.

Teams

Preamble

It is 120 years since England first played France in the game of rugby union football, the fixture that came to be known as Le Crunch. Just six weeks or so ago, according to common wisdom, this anniversary match looked to be perfectly positioned to host a Grand Slam decider; a tie of apposite stature to mark the occasion.

The problem is that other teams – Italy, Ireland and Scotland; nations that couldn’t give one for such matters – took great delight in splintering the received narrative; and so we find ourselves with a contest of diminished reward of outcome, but not of context and interest.

France have underperformed. The talent at the disposal of Fabien Galthie buckled when Scotland applied the first real test, and it became very apparent that they are not coached well enough. They must demonstrate today that this is not the case, or that they can arrest the decline quickly.

Steve Borthwick and his England team arrive in Paris shrouded in the miasma of an inquisition already started in earnest regarding his suitability for the job, the gameplan, and the leadership in the squad. Very few wish to entertain the probable truth that England’s players are are a long way from great and likely no better than good at this level; so the interminable reviews and think-pieces will continue until morale improves. In the meantime, they must show they can stop going behind in matches early then losing their minds either by failing to convert in the 22 or coughing up penalties and yellow cards.

Following Ireland’s win earlier today the task for France is simple: win the game and they win the Championship, lose and Ireland take the trophy. For England, lose the game and trudge listlessly into the tournament post-mortem, but a win…and exactly the same thing happens.