Twickenham: Reigning Six Nations champions France handed England their biggest ever defeat in home history when they thrashed England 53-10 at Twickenham on Saturday.
An utterly dominant France ended their 18-year wait for Six Nations success in style at Twickenham, scoring seven tries.
Thibault Flement, Charles Olivonne and Damien Peynaud all crossed England’s line twice after Thomas Ramos, who scored 23 points in all, went for an early five-pointer.
The 43-point margin exceeded the 35-point margin England conceded in their 42–6 defeat to South Africa at Twickenham in 2008.
It was England’s third-worst defeat at home, behind Australia’s 76–0 loss in Brisbane in 1998 and the 58–10 defeat against the Springboks in Bloemfontein in 2007.
The victory gave World Cup hosts France their biggest ever victory margin over England, surpassing the 25-point margin achieved in their 37–12 success in 1972 and 31–6 victory in 2006.
Both of those victories came in Paris, while the previous biggest victory France had managed to beat England at Twickenham was just eight points in an 11–3 success in 1951.
France’s victory on Saturday was even more impressive considering the rainy conditions in south-west London.
And it kept their hopes of a successful title defense alive after a second-round defeat by Grand Slam-chasing Ireland ended Les Bleus’ 14-match winning streak against all opponents.
A weeping France coach Fabien Galthy said, “I’ve been coming to Twickenham for 20 years. I feel it. It’s emotional.”
“The players wanted to play a big match against England. It has been tough on them. When you know where rugby stands in this country, our thoughts are with the England team who will be experiencing a difficult moment.” ”
“For us, it means we are real.”