Another Saturday night at the movies with a stunningly different conclusion. This was an absolute thriller which kept everyone guessing right up to the final breathless reel. The clincher, in the end, was a sensational 79th minute try from replacement Elliot Daly, bursting unstoppably on to a short ball from his new young fly-half Fin Smith, to trigger absolute delirium around the old cabbage patch.

It had seemed for all the world that England were about to lose another tight game when France’s precocious winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey went over for his second try of the game six minutes from time. With barely 90 seconds left, though, England had one last chance and, in a set strike move off a lineout, Smith and Daly combined to propel Red Rose fans into dreamland.

Continue reading...