England’s title defence is now hanging by a thread as they suffered their first Calcutta Cup clash against Scotland since 2008. That was a bitter blow for the English as they were ticking along nicely on track to get their hands back on the title. There is still a chance though and they are going to have to produce a big bounce-back performance in Paris on the weekend to stay in with a chance of finishing top.
England host Ireland on the final weekend of action so still have to target that match. But before that happens they have to go and do a job against the French. It’s not that England were bad at Murrayfield, they just looked a little unprepared for what the Scots were doing to them at the breakdown and how the referee was running the match. They basically didn’t adapt themselves well enough and the sniping Scots took their chances brilliantly. If nothing else it will have knocked any complacency out of the English.
So do they have it in them to snap back and keep their title hopes alive going into the final weekend? England opened with a comfortable away win in Italy before edging out the Welsh 12-6 at Twickenham. Then came that surprise defeat at Murrayfield. So where next for them? You can be assured that coach Eddie Jones will have been putting a rocket up them and dissecting everything from that loss in Scotland.
England have scored ten tries in the Championship this season which having conceded five, which is the second-best record in terms of tries conceded only to the French. So this is probably going to be a tight affair. The French have looked a bit of a mess again and still pretty directionless when it comes to attack. There is just not the characteristic flair there from them and they don’t have much of an identity as a side at the moment and you get the feeling the French fans know that.
They were denied in their opening game of the Championship this season at home when Ireland’s Johnny Sexton fired over a dramatic drop goal in stoppage time to give the Irish a 15-13 win in Paris. All they could manage them was a bonus point in a defeat at Murrayfield against Scotland before pulling away comfortably in the second half of their big home success over the Italians. They have the threat of Teddy Thomas who has three tries for the tournament and the boot of Maxime Machenaud who is second only to Wales’ Leigh Halfpenny in the points for the 2018 Six Nations. England will have to keep the penalty count down.
France v England Odds*
England 1/3, Draw 19/1, France 12/5* (Betting Odds taken at 4:46 a.m. on March 6th, 2018).
France v England Head to Head
England have won back to back Six Nations duels with France now and have lost just one of the last five against them. In the last decade, England holds a W8 L4 record from meetings with the French. In France though, England have lost three of their last five visits there so this isn’t going to be an easy game for them. Four of the last six meetings have been settled by a points difference of five or less. A France +7 handicap looks good value at 10/11 with Paddy Power* (Betting Odds taken at 4:46 a.m. on March 6th, 2018).
France v England Predictions
England are going to be in for a scrap here. They have to be a little bit on edge after their misfire at Murrayfield and the French will try and stick in there and grind the visitors down. It is well worth backing a tight game with a low points margin but back England to edge it as they have a lot more at stake in this one and can handle the pressure.
