Six Nations live France vs England: Six Nations result as Ireland win first title since 2015

Follow the latest from the fourth round of the 2018 Six Nations championship

(Getty)

England will look to get their Six Nations championship defence back on track on Saturday evening as they take on France in the latest instalment of “Le Crunch”, looking to make up for their shock defeat by Scotland last time out.

That 25-13 defeat in Edinburgh has put Ireland in pole position for the title, having won all three of their games so far, but with England and Ireland due to meet on the final weekend of the tournament, Eddie Jones’ side at least know that their fate remains in their own hands if they can beat France.

They will have to do so without captain Dylan Hartley though, with the hooker ruled out with a calf injury, meaning that Jamie George is handed his first Six Nations start and Exeter’s Luke Cowan-Dickie is named on the bench. While it is the only change in the pack, England’s back line looks very different as outside stand-in captain Owen Farrell is Ben Te’o, fit-again Elliot Daly and Jonny May, with Anthony Watson moving to full-back and Mike Brown dropped.

France meanwhile make just one change to the side that beat Italy a fortnight ago, with Toulon fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc recalled in place of Lionel Beauxis as Jacques Brunel’s third starting No 10 in four matches

Follow the live action below...

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What time does it start?

France vs England kicks off at the Stade de France at 16:45 GMT (17:45 CET).

Where can I watch it?

The match will be shown live on BBC One from 16:00 GMT.

Teams

France: Hugo Bonneval; Benjamin Fall, Mathieu Bastareaud, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Remy Grosso; Francois Trinh-Duc, Maxime Machenaud; Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani; Paul Gabrillagues, Sebastien Vahaamahina; Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Marco Tauleigne.

Replacements: Adrien Pelissie, Dany Priso, Cedate Gomes Sa, Romain Taofifenua, Kelian Galletier, Baptiste Couilloud, Lionel Beauxis, Gael Fickou.

England: Anthony Watson; Jonny May, Ben Te’o, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje; Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Nathan Hughes.

Key Points

• France: Bonneval; Fall, Bastareaud, Doumayrou, Grosso; Trinh-Duc, Machenaud; Poirot, Guirado (capt), Slimani, Gabrillagues, Vahaamahina, Lauret, Camara, Tauleigne.
• England: Watson; May, Te'o, Farrell (capt), Daly; Ford, Care; Vunipola, George, Cole, Launchbury, Itoje, Lawes, Robshaw, Hughes.
• Ireland can win the Six Nations today if they beat Scotland and France beat England

[10 March 2018 18:15 · Jack de Menezes]

67 mins: Another breakdown, another French penalty and it's getting predictable from England here.

Joe Marler and Luke Cowan-Dickie are on for Vunipola and George, while France replace Poirot, Guirado and Lauret with Dany Priso, Adrien Pelissie and Kelian Galletier.

[10 March 2018 18:22 · Jack de Menezes]

72 mins: England survive another French onslaught as Grosso comes inside, but Robshaw does well to well to win a penalty on his own try line. England then counter through Daly on the right and his speed beats Grosso, only for the Frenchman to get a hand to the ball and knock it legally into touch. Te'o smashes through a gap from the lineout, but his floated pass to Daly is short and the wing has to check his run that stops the momentum. Brown, on for Watson, chips behind and causes a five metre lineout.

France lose it, and England attack inside five metres...

[10 March 2018 18:23 · Jack de Menezes]

74 mins: TRY FOR ENGLAND!

[10 March 2018 18:26 · Jack de Menezes]

74 mins: England whip the ball left and after a strong yet painful-looking run from Lawes, Farrell whips a flat pass out to Daly on the touchline, who flicks it brilliantly to Jonny May inside for the wing to go over for his third try of the championship. Farrell converts from the touchline, and the lead is just 19-16 with five minutes left!

[10 March 2018 18:27 · Jack de Menezes]

78 mins: Penalty to France! Right in front of the poss, Robshaw is penalised for not rolling away after a good break from Couilloud, and this will be a regulation kick to establish a six-point lead.

[10 March 2018 18:28 · Jack de Menezes]

79 mins: Replacement No 10 Lionel Beauxis gets it and France lead 22-16. England need a try...

[10 March 2018 18:30 · Jack de Menezes]

80 mins: Into time added on and England win a penalty that Farrell fires to the corner...

[10 March 2018 18:32 · Jack de Menezes]

80 mins: The lineout is overthrown! France only need to boot the ball to win...and Beauxis misses touch! Daly retrieves it and England have another penalty to send to the 5m line. Can they get this one right?

[10 March 2018 18:33 · Jack de Menezes]

80 mins: Itoje claims the lineout and England go through the phases...it's knocked on!

FRANCE BEAT ENGLAND 22-16!

This of course though means that with an unassailable nine-point lead, Ireland are crowned 2018 Six Nations champions!

[10 March 2018 18:37 · Jack de Menezes]

F/T: France come from nowhere to wreck the party and hand England back-to-back defeats for the first time since the 2015 Rugby World Cup and their first consecutive away defeats in the Six Nations since 2009.

It was a fully deserved victory for Les Bleus, who much like Scotland at Murrayfield two weeks ago, fed off the raucous home crowd to stun the now dethroned champions. 

It leaves Eddie Jones facing a number of questions...