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Tom Hamilton, Senior Writer
LYON, France — Steve Borthwick said England have taken a step forward in this year’s Six Nations and the weight of the shirt is getting a little lighter on the players after they finished their campaign with a narrow 33-31 defeat to France in Lyon.
Jamie George was left “devastated” by the result as France fly-half Thomas Ramos kicked a 79th-minute penalty to snatch victory for the hosts against a spirited England side. Both teams came into the match knowing Ireland had already secured the championship for the second year running, but they put on a brilliant show in Lyon with Les Bleus securing a victory to take second place in the Six Nations.
England were a minute from victory after their four tries from Ollie Lawrence (two), Marcus Smith and Tommy Freeman, alongside an immaculate kicking performance from George Ford, gave them a 31-30 lead heading into the final throes of the match, only for Ramos to kick the last-gasp penalty.
“[The] Overriding emotion is immense pride in the players and gratitude to our supporters. I think the players have been incredible — they played really well tonight and I’m really disappointed for them,” Borthwick said afterwards. “I’m grateful to our supporters. It was a fantastic atmosphere in Lyon tonight.
“I’ve talked about the weight of the shirt in the past and I think with the kind of support we’re getting, the England shirt is starting to feel a bit lighter, it’s helping these players grow.”
Borthwick would not be drawn on the controversial penalty call against Ben Earl for a no-arms tackle in the 79th minute, but was full of praise for the way his team rallied against France.
England journeyed to France off the back of wins against Wales and Italy, a disappointing performance against Scotland at Murrayfield and then that momentous win against Ireland at Twickenham. But they finished with a narrow defeat.
“We want to restrict the opposition scoring without question,” Borthwick said.
“We’re starting to see the team develop its points scoring ability. We came to France and scored four tries. When we got into the opposition 22 it looked like we could score. This is the progression of the team, it takes time.
“We’ve got a mix, this a new team. Some players have incredible experience and some with only a handful of caps. Young players so we’re going to make mistakes. The environment I’ve got to create is one where players they can come and bring their point of difference on to the pitch and understand that within our framework mistakes can be made and the players have that ability to get into the next battle.
“We’ve taken on two teams in the top four of the world and we’ve shown how we can compete with them. To be clear here, we don’t just want to be competing we want to win. We shown the team has step forward.”
George said the emotions post-match were similar to their last-gasp defeat to South Africa in the 2023 Rugby World Cup where Handre Pollard kicked a late penalty to break English hearts.
“Devastating — similar to the last time we were in France against South Africa [in the World Cup],” George said. “France showed their class but we are a team definitely on an upward curve.
“We let ourselves down against Scotland. But [today] we gave it a good go, our scrum and set piece held up well. I’ve loved the last seven weeks.”